Is nature mostly a tinkerer or an inventor?

The Krüppel-like factor and specificity protein (KLF/SP) genes are found across many species, ranging from single cell organisms to humans. This gene family has been conserved during evolution, because it plays a vital role ...

Dark centers of chromosomes reveal ancient DNA

Geneticists exploring the dark heart of the human genome have discovered big chunks of Neanderthal and other ancient DNA. The results open new ways to study both how chromosomes behave during cell division and how they have ...

Single-celled alga found to harbor seven genomes

An international team of oceanographers, parasitologists and biologists has found that the single-celled alga Cryptomonas gyropyrenoidosa harbors seven genomes in its one cell. In their study, reported in the journal Current ...

Chromatin organizes itself into 3-D 'forests' in single cells

A single cell contains the genetic instructions for an entire organism. This genomic information is managed and processed by the complex machinery of chromatin—a mix of DNA and protein within chromosomes whose function ...

Why eukaryotes, not bacteria, evolved complex multicellularity

Prokaryotic single-celled organisms, the ancestors of modern-day bacteria and archaea, are the most ancient form of life on our planet, first appearing roughly 3.5 billion years ago. The first eukaryotic cells appeared around ...

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