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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).

Long Reads Show Promise for Diagnosing Rare Genetic Disorders

The cause of rare diseases is increasingly being detected through genome sequencing, which involves reading the entire human DNA by first breaking it into small pieces-short reads.

16 Jan 2025

Protein Shapes Reveal Deeper Evolutionary Relationships

According to a study published in the journal Nature Communications, the three-dimensional form of a protein can be utilized to determine long-standing evolutionary relationships in the tree of life.

16 Jan 2025

Genetic Study Uncovers Growing Threat of Powdery Mildew to Blueberry Crops

The study on E. vaccinii uncovers its evolution and spread, linking genetic diversity to increased threats to blueberry crops and the role of human activities.

16 Jan 2025

Study Identifies Five Root-Lesion Nematodes Affecting New Zealand Maize

A new study has lifted the lid on five species of root-lesion nematodes living in maize crops across New Zealand - and suggested the existence of a hitherto-unsuspected cryptic species.

15 Jan 2025

Unrepaired DNA Damage Can Persist for Years and Lead to Cancer Mutations

While most known types of DNA damage are fixed by our cells’ in-house repair mechanisms, some forms of DNA damage evade repair and can persist for many years, new research shows. This means that the damage has multiple chances to generate harmful mutations, which can lead to cancer.

15 Jan 2025

EMBL and ELLIS Forge Strategic Partnership to Advance AI in Life Sciences

A new collaborative agreement aims to help position Europe at the forefront of AI-driven advancements in life sciences research.

15 Jan 2025

Base Editing Technique Extends Lifespan in Prion Disease Mouse Model

Researchers at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard have developed a gene-editing treatment for prion disease that extends lifespan by about 50 percent in a mouse model of the fatal neurodegenerative condition.

15 Jan 2025

DNA Stretching: Minimizing Thermal Fluctuations for Imaging

The majority of microscopes can only illuminate objects up to a specific size before the smallest details start to blend together.

15 Jan 2025

Understanding RapA's Function in E. coli R-loop Control

From a genetic perspective, it is the worst-case scenario for a bacterium: during transcription, freshly created RNA adheres to its DNA template to form a three-stranded structure called an R-loop.

15 Jan 2025

Outer Ears Evolved From Fish Gills Through Unique Genetic Mechanism

The outer ear is unique to mammals, but its evolutionary origin has remained a mystery. According to a new study published in Nature from the USC Stem Cell lab of Gage Crump, this intricate coil of cartilage has a surprisingly ancient origin in the gills of fishes and marine invertebrates.

10 Jan 2025

Researchers Discover How Protein Instability Drives Heritable Diseases

Most mutations which cause disease by swapping one amino acid out for another do so by making the protein less stable, according to a massive study of human protein variants published today in the journal Nature.

10 Jan 2025

Illuminating RNA Function with Innovative Bioluminescent Probes

The molecule that reads the genetic data contained in DNA is called RNA. Researchers at the University of California, Irvine have found a method to tag RNA with a glowing bioluminescent molecule, which enables them to track RNA in real time as it travels throughout the body.

10 Jan 2025

Arabidopsis Study Finds that Centromeres Call the Shots in Retrotransposon Integration

Centromeres play a crucial role in cell division, with CENH3 guiding retrotransposon Tal1 integration, revealing insights into genome evolution and stability.

10 Jan 2025

New Discovery Sheds Light on How Monoamines Regulate Brain Rhythms

A collaborative effort between Mount Sinai and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center has shed valuable light on how monoamine neurotransmitters such as serotonin, dopamine, and now histamine help regulate brain physiology and behavior through chemical bonding of these monoamines to histone proteins, the core DNA-packaging proteins of our cells.

9 Jan 2025

New Gene Editing Tool Combines Multiple Functions for Treating Genetic Diseases

Influential inventions often combine existing tools in new ways. The iPhone, for instance, amalgamated the telephone, web browser and camera, among many other devices.

9 Jan 2025

Rewriting History: Advanced Genetic Analysis Uncovers Ancient Ancestry Shifts in Europe

High-resolution analysis of ancient genomes reveals key Scandinavian ancestry movements in early medieval Europe, highlighting complex genetic interactions.

9 Jan 2025

New Genomic Evidence Sheds Light on Early Migration into Wallacea

A new study from the University of Adelaide and The Australian National University (ANU) has outlined the first genomic evidence of early migration from New Guinea into the Wallacea, an archipelago containing Timor-Leste and hundreds of inhabited eastern Indonesian islands.

8 Jan 2025

New Insights into Nuclear Lipid Droplets as Regulators of Aging and Metabolic Health

A new research perspective was published in Aging (listed by MEDLINE/PubMed as "Aging (Albany NY)" and "Aging-US" by Web of Science) Volume 16, Issue 22 on December 9, 2024, entitled "Nuclear lipid droplets: a novel regulator of nuclear homeostasis and aging."

8 Jan 2025

New Mechanism Revealed for Immune Response to DNA Damage

A research team from the University of California, Irvine has revealed a previously unknown mechanism that triggers an inflammatory immune response in cells when their DNA is damaged.

7 Jan 2025

Genetic Discovery Offers Potential for Higher Crop Yields and Biofuel Production

A team of scientists with two Department of Energy Bioenergy Research Centers -; the Center for Bioenergy Innovation, or CBI, at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Center for Advanced Bioenergy and Bioproducts Innovation, or CABBI, at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign -; identified a gene in a poplar tree that enhances photosynthesis and can boost tree height by about 30% in the field and by as much as 200% in the greenhouse.

6 Jan 2025