DNA News and Research

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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).

Researchers aim to improve efficiency and genetics in organic corn production

Iowa State University scientists are leading an effort to improve efficiency and genetics in organic corn production, a fast-growing sector of the agricultural world since the beginning of 2020.

6 Oct 2021

Active genes do not form clusters and share resources during early development in fruit flies

Active genes do not form clusters and share resources during early development in the fruit fly, according to a new study by New York University and Princeton researchers published in the journal Current Biology.

6 Oct 2021

Study provides insights on how the human gut microbiota resist cholera bacterium

Cholera is still an enormous problem. An acute diarrheal disease, there have been seven major pandemics in the last two hundred years. According to the WHO, cholera still kills up to 143,000 people each year and infects up to 4 million others, mostly in poor or underdeveloped countries.

4 Oct 2021

Researchers identify 14 genes responsible for obesity

Promising news in the effort to develop drugs to treat obesity: University of Virginia scientists have identified 14 genes that can cause and three that can prevent weight gain. The findings pave the way for treatments to combat a health problem that affects more than 40% of American adults.

4 Oct 2021

Powerful method offers new insights about the dynamics of gliomas

A team led by researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine, the New York Genome Center, Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital and the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard has profiled in unprecedented detail thousands of individual cells sampled from patients' brain tumors.

4 Oct 2021

Study offers important insights into how circadian clocks function at the subcellular level

Almost every living thing on Earth-;from bacteria to plants to people-;have a circadian rhythm, the biological clock that controls both physiology and behavior of organisms over a 24-hour period.

1 Oct 2021

Researchers develop key components of an expanded genetic code system

Modern biologists nurture more ambitious goals and one among them is to know how to broaden or alternatively modify the genetic code of life on Earth.

1 Oct 2021

Scientists emphasize the need for commercialization in gene editing research

The UK Government published plans to replace the prevailing European Union regulations in using gene editing in UK agricultural practices.

1 Oct 2021

Mapping the genome of Eurasian spruce bark beetle reveals new insights

Researchers have successfully mapped the entire genome of the Eurasian spruce bark beetle. The breakthrough paves the way for new research into bark beetles and better prospects for effective pest control of a species that can destroy more than 100 million cubic meters of spruce forest during a single year in Europe and Asia.

30 Sep 2021

New partnership reveals the genetic secrets hidden in 7,000 grapevines

A new partnership revealing the genetic secrets hidden in 7,000 grapevines are yielding clues that could make the U.S. grape industry more resilient and deliver new kinds of grapes to benefit growers and consumers alike.

30 Sep 2021

Research shows impact of human settlement on island biodiversity

Research has shed new light on the impact of humans on islands' biodiversity. The findings show how human colonization altered forests across the islands of Macaronesia including the loss of landscape authenticity.

29 Sep 2021

Supercoiling and looping can transmit mechanical stress along the DNA backbone, shows study

When people think of DNA, they visualize a string-like double helix structure. In reality, the DNA double helix in cells is supercoiled and constrained into loops. This supercoiling and looping are known to influence every aspect of DNA activity, but how this happens has not been clear.

28 Sep 2021

Bird poop reveals how birds' gut microbiomes change on migration

The trillions of bacteria living in our guts play a crucial role in our ability to digest food and fight off disease.

28 Sep 2021

Study develops a highly efficient expression system for high protease yield

Proteases, one of the most inventive products, are utilized to enhance the efficacy of feed additives.

28 Sep 2021

Researchers examine the deep past of human population dynamics

The current year marks the 20th anniversary of human genome sequencing. To mark this event, scientists headed by Professor Qiaomei Fu from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences reviewed the current progress in the area of ancient DNA (aDNA)—DNA acquired from the remains of past organisms.

28 Sep 2021

Research provides new insights into growth hormone receptor gene's evolutionary history

A new study delves into the evolution and function of the human growth hormone receptor gene, and asks what forces in humanity's past may have driven changes to this vital piece of DNA.

27 Sep 2021

Remnants of organic molecules and chromatin found in nuclei of ancient dinosaur cells

A team of scientists from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and from the Shandong Tianyu Museum of Nature (STM) has isolated exquisitely preserved cartilage cells in a 125-million-year-old dinosaur from Northeast China that contain nuclei with remnants of organic molecules and chromatin.

27 Sep 2021

Tumor suppressor protein binding to RNA also binds DNA, says study

Scientists from the Medical University of South Carolina earlier displayed how hnRNP E1 attaches to metastatic-linked RNAs to prevent their translation.

27 Sep 2021

Structural parameters of phosphatidylglycerol-DNA complex revealed

An interaction of DNA with lipids is of great interest because of their functions. As fatty acids and lipids can specifically bind to nucleic acids forming a code sequence of the genomic DNA, it is important to study the interaction of the oligonucleotide DNA (dA)20-(dT)20 with phosphatidylglycerol by the molecular dynamics method.

24 Sep 2021

Scientists analyze the molecular machinery of poxviruses at an atomic level

Poxviruses have found a unique way of translating their genes into proteins in the infected organism. A team of researchers from Würzburg shows for the first time how the molecular machinery involved works at an atomic level.

24 Sep 2021