Genetics & Molecular Biology

Why Are Some Genes Highly Expressed?

The DNA in our cells is folded into millions of small packets, like beads on a string, allowing two-meter linear DNA genomes to fit into a nucleus of only about 0.01 mm in diameter. However, these molecular beads, called nucleosomes, render DNA 'unre ...

Article - News Staff - Nov 6 2015 - 6:46am

Packaging And Unpacking Of The Genome

DNA represents a dynamic form of information, balancing efficient storage and access requirements. Packaging approximately 1.8m of DNA into something as small as a cell nucleus is no mean feat, but unpacking it again to access the required sections and ge ...

Article - News Staff - Nov 9 2015 - 6:53am

Speck Disease Hurts Tomato Fields- Luckily, Science Exists To Fix That

The 2015 growing season was tough on tomato plants at the Boyce Thompson Institute, as bacterial speck disease (Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato) descended on their field. But it was all done on purpose. Don't go crazy and start calling up donors for ...

Article - News Staff - Nov 9 2015 - 8:41am

Unpacking Embryonic Pluripotency

Researchers have identified factors that spark the formation of pluripotent cells. Their findings, published in Developmental Cell, shed light on human embryonic development and help research into cell reprogramming and assisted conception. ...

Article - News Staff - Nov 10 2015 - 8:48am

Browning In Apples Is A Defense Mechanism- But The Public Still Wants It To Go

Agriculturally rich nations are a little spoiled about food. A few years ago Europe even limited how 'ugly' fruit could be when it was being sold to the public, presumably because Europeans deserve pretty fruit. For that reason, it's little ...

Article - News Staff - Nov 11 2015 - 12:59pm

What Happens To Your Skin When Pregnancy Gives You A Stretch Mark

Don't believe the hype when you see claims about creams and ointments that promise to prevent or reduce pregnancy stretch marks. The line-shaped lesions also known as striae gravidarum affect 50 percent to 90 percent of women. However, some women are ...

Article - News Staff - Nov 17 2015 - 5:22pm

Why Do Kids Get Cancer? Genetics

In many cases, cancer is a lifestyle disease. You are far more likely to get lung cancer if you smoke and the older you get, the more likely you are to get cancer of all kinds. Age is the biggest risk factor and we get more cancer than our ancestors becau ...

Article - News Staff - Nov 18 2015 - 7:45pm

Frankenworm: Heads And Brains Of One Species Grown On Body Of Another

Biologists have induced one species of flatworm to grow heads and brains characteristic of another species of flatworm without altering the genomic sequence. The work reveals physiological circuits as a new kind of epigenetics- information existing outsid ...

Article - News Staff - Nov 24 2015 - 12:03pm

Animal Organ Transplants Into Humans Using Gene Editing

The clinical potential and ethical difficulty posed by gene-editing technology, which can “find and replace” targeted genes, is seemingly endless. But while public attention is focused on whether we should use it to change the genes of embryos, applicatio ...

Article - The Conversation - Dec 6 2015 - 8:30am

GM Mice Reveal The Secret To A Painless Life

People born with a rare genetic mutation are unable to feel pain, but previous attempts to recreate this effect with drugs have had surprisingly little success. Using mice modified to carry the same mutation, UCL researchers funded by the MRC and Wellcome ...

Article - News Staff - Mar 28 2019 - 12:17pm