DNA Replication News and Research

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DNA replication, the basis for biological inheritance, is a fundamental process occurring in all living organisms to copy their DNA. This process is "semiconservative" in that each strand of the original double-stranded DNA molecule serves as template for the reproduction of the complementary strand. Hence, following DNA replication, two identical DNA molecules have been produced from a single double-stranded DNA molecule. Cellular proofreading and error-checking mechanisms ensure near perfect fidelity for DNA replication.

Japanese Researchers Develop New Assay to Detect Epigenetic Toxicity

Chemicals used as food preservatives, flavoring agents, dyes, pesticides, cosmetics, cleaners, and other industrial materials are being increasingly recognized as a health hazard.

11 Apr 2025

How Does DNA Unwind? Study Explores Helicase Mechanisms In DNA Replication

This study reveals how SV40 helicase unwinds DNA, highlighting ATP hydrolysis's role in translocation and offering insights into viral replication mechanisms.

28 Mar 2025

First-Ever Molecular Movie Shows DNA Unzipping Mechanism in Action

Scientists at the University of Leicester have captured the first detailed "molecular movie" showing DNA being unzipped at the atomic level – revealing how cells begin the crucial process of copying their genetic material.

22 Mar 2025

Visualizing the Fundamental Process of DNA Strand Separation

The exact moment DNA starts to unravel has been seen by scientists for the first time, exposing a chemical process that is essential for DNA to be the molecule that codes for all life.

20 Mar 2025

Lactylation Levels Influence Cardiac Development and Regeneration in Mice

This study is led by Dr. Xiaodong Luan (Institute of Clinical Medicine, Peking Union Medical College Hospital), Dr. Shuyang Zhang (Department of Rare Diseases, Peking Union Medical College Hospital) and Dr. He Huang (Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences).

3 Mar 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

Discovery of Large Tandem Duplications Opens New Avenues for Cancer Treatment

Cancer researchers at the University of Chicago and the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) have discovered that mutations in certain genes can lead to the accumulation of DNA errors, resulting in a specific type of genetic change known as large tandem duplications (TDs) that can arise from the collision of two critical cellular processes: transcription and DNA replication.

21 Nov 2024

Study Reveals How Chronic Immune Signaling Can Promote Cancer

Along with defending against pathogens, the body's innate immune system helps to protect the stability of our genomes in unexpected ways -; ways that have important implications for the development of cancer, researchers at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) are discovering.

6 Nov 2024

Unveiling the Molecular Mechanisms of CRISPR-Cas10's Cellular Shutdown

CRISPR-Cas9 can elegantly and precisely cut away any desired region of DNA and has long been compared to a type of genetic scissors.

29 Oct 2024

Understanding Algal Gene Expression Through Histone Dynamics

A previously unknown molecular signature of the regulation of algal genomes during the cell cycle was discovered, thanks to a novel technique that research teams can employ to test and compare various protein forms and protein complexes.

24 Oct 2024

Unlocking the Secrets of Life Through Synthetic Biology

It is one of the most fundamental questions in science: how can lifeless molecules come together to form a living cell? Bert Poolman, Professor of Biochemistry at the University of Groningen, has been working on this problem for over twenty years.

22 Oct 2024

A Powerful New Tool for Biomedical Research

Scientists at Weill Cornell Medicine in Qatar (WCM-Q) have built a comprehensive molecular map of the human body and its complicated physiological processes by analyzing thousands of molecules found in 391 volunteers' blood, urine, and saliva samples.

12 Sep 2024

Study Reveals Unique DNA Replication Dynamics in Early Embryogenesis

Researchers at the RIKEN Center for Biosystems Dynamics (BDR) in Japan have made a novel discovery that challenges long-held beliefs about DNA replication.

29 Aug 2024

Sae2 Regulates Critical DNA Repair Functions in Yeast

DNA damage is a cellular phenomenon that introduces structural abnormalities in double-stranded DNA. External factors, such as radiation or chemical agents, as well as internal factors, such as blocked DNA replication, can generate double-strand breaks (DSBs) in DNA.

29 Aug 2024

Cryo-EM Study Sheds Light on HSV Drug Resistance Mechanisms Through Protein Movement

All organisms -; from fungi to mammals -; have the capacity to evolve and adapt to their environments. But viruses are master shapeshifters with an ability to mutate greater than any other organism. As a result, they can evade treatments or acquire resistance to once-effective antiviral medications.

28 Aug 2024

CDCA7's Role in DNA Methylation Maintenance Revealed in Recent Study

DNA methylation is a process in which a methyl group is attached to the cytosine base of the DNA molecule, and a major way that DNA is epigenetically marked. Epigenetic modifications can act as on-off switches to regulate gene expression and help generate diverse cell types without changing the underlying DNA sequence. It is how the body ensures that brain-related genes don't get turned on in heart cells, for example.

28 Aug 2024

The Role of DNA Repair Pathways in Antibody Somatic Hypermutation

In a recent online publication in SCIENCE CHINA Life Sciences, researchers from the laboratory of Leng-Siew Yeap at the Shanghai Institute of Immunology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine published a review article entitled "Molecular Mechanisms of DNA Lesion and Repair During Antibody Somatic Hypermutation". This review comprehensively summarizes the mechanisms involved in the generation of antigen-specific diversified antibodies, with a particular focus on the mechanisms that generate high-frequency point mutations and low-frequency deletions and insertions (indels) in antibody genes.

22 Aug 2024

Shared Mechanisms in Human and Yeast DNA Replication Revealed

Humans and baker's yeast have more in common than meets the eye, including an important mechanism that helps ensure DNA is copied correctly, reports a pair of studies published in the journals Science and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

5 Aug 2024

Understanding How Motorized Processes Shape Chromosome Structures and Influence Cellular Functions

Researchers at Rice University are making strides in understanding how chromosome structures change throughout the cell's life cycle.

4 Jul 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