Histones—proteins that package DNA—affect cell function differently than previously assumed: the cell doesn't need the histone H3.3 to read genes. Molecular biologists from the University of Zurich demonstrate that fruit ...
Cell & Microbiology
Nov 13, 2012
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Humans share over 90% of their DNA with their primate cousins. The expression or activity patterns of genes differ across species in ways that help explain each species' distinct biology and behavior.
Biotechnology
Nov 6, 2012
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To fit the two-meter long DNA molecule into a cell nucleus that is only a few thousandths of a millimetre in size, long sections of the DNA must be strongly compacted. Epigenetic marks maintain these sections, known as heterochromatin. ...
Cell & Microbiology
Sep 25, 2012
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(Phys.org)—An interdisciplinary effort at the Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research (FMI) addressed the question of how mRNA content, which is translated into proteins, is regulated in the cell. Supported ...
Cell & Microbiology
Sep 7, 2012
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(Phys.org)—It's not just a few key genes and proteins that cycle on and off in humans in a 24-hour circadian pattern as the sun rises and falls. Thousands of genes in organs throughout the body show predictable daily fluctuations, ...
Cell & Microbiology
Sep 3, 2012
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The first step in gene expression is the exact copying of a segment of DNA by the enzyme known as RNA polymerase II, or pol II, into a mirror image RNA. Scientists recognize that pol II does not transcribe RNA via a smooth ...
Biotechnology
Aug 22, 2012
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To generate an overall view of cell function, molecular biologists build simultaneous expression, or activity, profiles of thousands of genes. Gene expression begins with a process called transcription, during which the DNA ...
Biotechnology
Jun 22, 2012
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Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have determined the three-dimensional atomic structure of a human protein that is centrally involved in regulating the activities of cells. Knowing the precise structure of this ...
Biochemistry
Apr 26, 2012
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A DICER protein, known to produce tiny RNAs in cells, also helps complete an important step in gene expression, according to research on Arabidopsis thaliana.
Biotechnology
Mar 29, 2012
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Genome sequencing alone provides researchers with only limited information on the organism works because it neither reveals how the system is regulated nor does it indicate the role of each specific DNA sequence or RNA transcript. ...
Biotechnology
Mar 26, 2012
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