The Genome Institute of Singapore (GIS) reports that what was previously believed to be “junk” DNA is in fact a vital component that distinguishes humans from other species. Their research, published in Genome Research, notes that previously, more than 50 percent of human DNA was referred to as “junk” because it consisted of copies of […]
Parents expect to pass on their eye or hair color to their children through their genes but new research from the University of Rochester Medical Center shows that some parents pass on the human herpes virus 6 (HHV-6) to their children because it is integrated into their chromosomes. Reporting their findings in the journalPediatrics, the […]
Panspermia, the theory that life on Earth may have evolved from simple bacteria that arrived via meteorite is still a hotly debated topic amongst astrobiologists, but an important new discovery indicates that the basic building blocks of life – known as nucleobases – may be a far more likely extraterrestrial contender for kick-starting life on […]
As well as raping and pillaging, Vikings are usually remembered for their horned helmets, but in a new study published in the journal PLoS ONEresearchers have now begun investigating what went on under the helmet. To help understand these fearsome Norsemen, Jürgen Dissing and colleagues from the University of Copenhagen have managed to extract what […]
Intriguing new evidence of life-like double-helix structures formed from inorganic substances in space has been reported in the New Journal of Physics. The physicists behind the discovery are now pondering whether extraterrestrial life could be composed of corkscrew-shaped formations of interstellar dust. The findings hint at the possibility that life beyond Earth may not necessarily […]
It looks like it may be back to the drawing board for many of the new gene therapy treatments being developed around the world. Professor Alexandre Reymond, from the Centre for Integrative Genomics in Switzerland, told attendees at the annual conference of the European Society of Human Genetics that current gene knock-out and knock-in models […]
Ohio State University chemists and their colleagues in Germany have used a special technique to watch strands of DNA sustain damage from ultraviolet (UV) light in real time. They discovered that the key reaction on the DNA molecule that is linked to sunburn happens with astounding speed – in less than one picosecond. Writing about […]
Scientists are trying to establish how nature arrived at DNA’s simple and elegant structure by putting together alternative DNA forms in the laboratory. “These molecules are the result of evolution. Somehow, they have been shaped and optimized for a particular purpose. For a chemist, it makes sense to analyze the origin of these molecules,” said […]
Biological dogma has long held that as a molecule of DNA is stretched, its double helix starts to unwind; but Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory researchers have shown that this is most definitely not the case. The experiment, reported in Nature, used microscopic beads and magnetic tweezers to observe that when a DNA molecule is stretched, […]
Our bodies are continually replenishing cells by way of cell division, but occasionally things can go awry during this process, giving rise to a mutated cell. Now, researchers at Karolinska Institutet have discovered how genetic information remains intact as cells divide, which may provide scientists with a greater understanding of what goes wrong when cancer […]
