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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).

Determining Sex in Ants

Researchers at the universities of Mainz and Lausanne have identified a noncoding gene as the deciding factor in determining sex in Argentine ants.

From University of Mainz 7 Jun 2024

Genetic Clues Unveil New Insights into Restless Leg Syndrome

Scientists have discovered genetic clues to the cause of restless leg syndrome, a condition common among older adults.

6 Jun 2024

Study Unveils Key Mechanism of Telomere Maintenance by CST–Polα/Primase

The length of telomeres that protect the ends of our chromosomes should be tightly regulated. Those that are too long predispose to cancer, and those that are too short lose their protective ability, resulting in telomere disorders with serious health consequences.

6 Jun 2024

Coordinated Proteins Aid the Immune System in Detecting and Destroying Threats

Bacteria, parasites, and viruses—the immune system tackles them all. Cells known as macrophages are at the forefront of the human immune response, recognizing intruders and controlling how the entire immune system responds.

6 Jun 2024

AMPLON Simplifies DNA Amplification for Diverse Medical Applications

A team of researchers from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine has created a novel method for target DNA sequence amplification, testing, and analysis.

6 Jun 2024

High-Accuracy DNA Methylation Clocks Illuminate Age-Related Changes in Primate Ovaries

The ovary is an essential organ for female fertility, and its age-dependent decline in function is a major cause of infertility.

5 Jun 2024

Researchers Advance Single-Molecule DNA Sequencing Techniques

In recent years, technologies that allow scientists to investigate a person's DNA at single-molecule resolution have greatly increased the knowledge of the human genome, microbiome, and the genetic basis of disease.

5 Jun 2024

Impact of Rare Disease Mutation Could Extend to More Prevalent Conditions

REX1 is a gene that is meant to direct the maintenance of the entire body’s DNA, but new research shows that when people are born with mutated TREX1, the DNA suffers catastrophic damage over time, resulting in a deadly rare disease known as retinal vasculopathy with cerebral leukoencephalopathy (RVCL).

5 Jun 2024

CRISPR/Cas Biosensors Address Sensitivity and Specificity Challenges in Detection

The mechanisms of CRISPR-Cas-based biosensors.

5 Jun 2024

Exploring Hepatic and Serum Proteomic Signatures in Werner Syndrome Mice

A new research paper was published on the cover of Aging (listed by MEDLINE/PubMed as "Aging (Albany NY)" and "Aging-US" by Web of Science) Volume 16, Issue 10, entitled, "Integrated liver and serum proteomics uncover sexual dimorphism and alteration of several immune response proteins in an aging Werner syndrome mouse model."

4 Jun 2024

Graph Neural Networks: A Novel Approach to Deciphering Gene-Enhancer Interactions

Scientists at La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI) have developed a new computational method for linking molecular marks on our DNA to gene activity.

4 Jun 2024

Brain Organoids Emerge as Powerful Tool for Drug Discovery in Mitochondrial Disease

The use of brain organoids in screening for drugs against mitochondrial diseases, which have hitherto presented challenges in treatment.

4 Jun 2024

Secarna and Orbit Discovery Partner to Develop Next-Generation Targeted ASO Therapeutics

Secarna Pharmaceuticals GmbH & Co. KG (Secarna), a leading independent European antisense drug discovery and development company, and Orbit Discovery Ltd. (Orbit), a leader in the discovery of therapeutic peptide hits, today announced that they have entered into a collaboration to discover and develop peptide-conjugated targeted antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) therapeutics.

3 Jun 2024

Protein SRSF1 Plays Unexpected Role in Unwinding Complex RNA Structures

RNA transcription is the genomic process in which a cell produces a duplicate of a gene's DNA sequence.

31 May 2024

Efficient Gene Editing with Compact Cas12a Protein

Researchers have created an innovative version of a critical CRISPR gene-editing protein that has effective editing activity and is small enough to be bundled into a non-pathogenic virus capable of delivering it to targeted cells.

31 May 2024

Engineered DNA PROTAC Shows Promise for p53-R175H Mutant Cancers

A synthetic bicomponent compound specifically targets and eliminates a mutant protein associated with multiple forms of cancer.

30 May 2024

Structural Insights into a Novel Gene-Editing Tool

Yutaro Shuto, Ryoya Nakagawa, and Osamu Nureki of the University of Tokyo conducted collaborative research to ascertain the spatial organization of different processes within a unique gene-editing instrument known as “prime editor.”

30 May 2024

LoCoHD: A Novel Method for Comparative Protein Structure Analysis

In a paper recently published in Nature Communications, the HUN-REN-ELTE Protein Modeling Research Group (Institute of Chemistry) has laid the foundations for a mathematical method, allowing the computer-assisted comparison of the three-dimensional structures of proteins.

30 May 2024

Understanding the Chemistry of Chocolate and Genotoxic Compounds

What makes chocolate taste and smell so delicious? Chemistry, of course! A variety of molecules work together to create that unmistakable aroma, but those same molecules might carry some unwanted health effects if there are too many around.

30 May 2024

Unmasking XPD’s Mechanism in DNA Damage Detection and Repair

The way the protein XPD recognizes severe DNA damage and regulates its repair was uncovered by researchers at the University of Würzburg, under the direction of Caroline Kisker and Claudia Höbartner.

29 May 2024