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DNA, or deoxyribonucleic acid, is the hereditary material in humans and almost all other organisms. Nearly every cell in a person’s body has the same DNA. Most DNA is located in the cell nucleus (where it is called nuclear DNA), but a small amount of DNA can also be found in the mitochondria (where it is called mitochondrial DNA or mtDNA).

Air-Dried Soil Archives Proven Viable for Long-Term Microbial Community Analysis

Post-doctoral researcher Joe Edwards and graduate student Sarah Love, both in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, published findings this spring that can save fellow researchers a lot of time and energy when storing soil samples for later study of their microbial content.

21 May 2024

Upgraded Nipponbare Genome Assembly Paves the Way for Enhanced Rice Research

A research team has achieved a groundbreaking improvement in the haplotype-resolved genome sequence of the japonica rice cultivar Nipponbare.

21 May 2024

Unraveling Gardnerella Diversity in the Vaginal Microbiome

Researchers from North Carolina State University have found that multiple species of Gardnerella, bacteria sometimes associated with bacterial vaginosis (BV) and pre-term birth, can coexist in the same vaginal microbiome.

21 May 2024

Brookhaven Scientists Unravel Evolutionary Origins of Plant Lignin

Scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory have discovered that a protein responsible for the synthesis of a key plant material evolved much earlier than suspected.

20 May 2024

Viruses Offer Efficient Delivery for Precise Plant Breeding

The application of genome editing in plant molecular breeding is hampered by the lack of straightforward and efficient methods for introducing genome editing reagents into plants, despite the technology's great potential.

20 May 2024

Phages and Zombie Cells Regulate Abundant Marine Bacteria

The movement of matter and energy required for ocean life is regulated by marine microbes, of these, approximately one-third are members of the bacterial group SAR11.

20 May 2024

Discovery of New Cancer Cell Death Pathway Involving Schlafen11 Gene

Chemotherapy kills cancer cells. But the way these cells die appears to be different than previously understood.

17 May 2024

Study: South African Leopards Exhibit Exceptional Genetic Diversity

Researchers say the discovery of very high genetic diversity in leopards found in the Highveld region of South Africa has increased the need for conservation efforts to protect leopards in the country.

16 May 2024

Herpes Gene Therapy Achieves 90% Viral Reduction in Pre-Clinical Studies

Researchers at Fred Hutch Cancer Center have found in pre-clinical studies that an experimental gene therapy for genital and oral herpes removed 90% or more of the infection and suppressed how much virus can be released from an infected individual, which suggests that the therapy would also reduce the spread of the virus.

16 May 2024

Genetic Analysis Sheds Light on the Role of Ribosomal DNA Copy Number in Inflammation and Disease

Ribosomal DNA (rDNA) is present in hundreds of copies in the genome, but has not previously been part of genetic analyses.

16 May 2024

Machine Learning Program Offers Insights Into Promoter Sequences and Transcription

A team led by researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center developed deep learning models to identify a simple set of rules that govern the activity of promoters – regions of DNA that initiate the process by which genes produce proteins.

15 May 2024

Rice Study Sheds Light on Pseudogene Dynamics

Rice University's Peter Wolynes and his research team have unveiled a breakthrough in understanding how specific genetic sequences, known as pseudogenes, evolve.

14 May 2024

MUSIC Map Uncovers Accelerated Aging in Brain Cells Linked to Alzheimer’s

Researchers observed sex-specific differences in the aging process of certain brain cells.

14 May 2024

Decoding Chromatin Modifications: A Breakthrough in Epigenome Editing

An epigenome editing platform and a method to program nine major chromatin modifications.

14 May 2024

Study Reveals the Surprising Role of Spliceosomes in Introns' Journey

Although you may not appreciate them, or have even heard of them, throughout your body, countless microscopic machines called spliceosomes are hard at work.

13 May 2024

Decoding Aging: The Role of Stochastic Variation in Biological Clocks

Aging clocks can measure the biological age of humans with high precision. Biological age can be influenced by environmental factors such as smoking or diet, thus deviating from the chronological age that is calculated using the date of birth.

10 May 2024

New Tool Precisely Edits Epigenetic Modifications

Powerful epigenetic editing technology was developed as a result of research by the Hackett group at EMBL Rome. This technology allows for the precise programming of chromatin modifications.

10 May 2024

Researchers Uncover New Genetic Mutation Linked to Rare Form of Congenital Thyroid Abnormality

A team of researchers from the University of Chicago, in collaboration with the Free University of Brussels and the University of Washington, have uncovered a genetic mutation in a non-coding region of DNA that alters the regulation of the thyroid, leading to a rare form of congenital thyroid abnormality.

9 May 2024

Rice University Develops AI-Powered Tools for Unraveling Microbial Genomes

Since the first microbial genome was sequenced in 1995, scientists have reconstructed the genomic makeup of hundreds of thousands of microorganisms and have even devised methods to take a census of bacterial communities on the skin, in the gut, or in soil, water and elsewhere based on bulk samples, leading to the emergence of a relatively new field of study known as metagenomics.

8 May 2024

New Insights Into PARP1 Biology Could Open Avenues to Improve Cancer Treatments

A new study led by University of Pittsburgh and UPMC Hillman Cancer Center researchers shows that an enzyme called PARP1 is involved in repair of telomeres, the lengths of DNA that protect the tips of chromosomes, and that impairing this process can lead to telomere shortening and genomic instability that can cause cancer.

8 May 2024