Synthetic DNA sheds light on mysterious difference between living cells at different points in evolution
A study reveals DNA activity differences in yeast and mammalian cells, hinting at evolutionary functions and impacting future gene therapy and medicine development.
Researchers decipher mysterious growth habit of weeping peach trees
A recent study published in Plant Physiology unveils that a single gene deletion affecting the hormone auxin’s distribution causes the unique downward growth of weeping peach tree shoots, challenging conventional plant growth patterns.
Ancient DNA reveals Down syndrome in past human societies
An international research team, by analyzing ancient DNA, has discovered cases of chromosomal disorders in prehistoric remains, including what may be the earliest identified case of Edwards syndrome, revealing how individuals with these conditions were valued in their ancient communities.
DNA’s memory lane: How historic trauma in Alaska native communities is passed on through epigenetics
From University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 09/09/23 Researchers investigated the relationship between historical traumatic events experienced by Alaska Native communities and epigenetic markers on genes that previous studies have linked to trauma. The new study found a similar pattern among Alaska Native participants, with specific epigenetic differences observed in those who reported experiencing the most […]
Engineered bacteria can detect tumor DNA
From University of California – San Diego 28/08/23 Pushing into a new chapter of technologically advanced biological sensors, scientists from the University of California San Diego and their colleagues in Australia have engineered bacteria that can detect the presence of tumor DNA in a live organism. Their innovation, which detected cancer in the colons of […]
The “unknome”: New database of human genes we know almost nothing about
From PLOS 11/08/23 Researchers from the United Kingdom hope that a new, publicly available database they have created will shrink, not grow, over time. That’s because it is a compendium of the thousands of understudied proteins encoded by genes in the human genome, whose existence is known but whose functions are mostly not. The database, […]