“Nucleolus”, or small nucleus, is the term coined by early biologists for the tiny structure within the nucleus which they saw under the microscope. In this structure within the nucleus, RNA molecules and proteins are assembled to form ribosomes, th…
The presence of introns in genes requires cells to process “messenger RNA” molecules before synthesizing proteins, a process that is costly and often error-prone. It was long believed that this was simply part of the price organisms paid for the fl…
January 16, 2011 — (BRONX, NY) — In a technique that could eventually shed light on how gene expression influences human disease, scientists at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have for the first time ever successfully v…
Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y. — The nucleus of a cell, which houses the cell’s DNA, is also home to many structures that are not bound by a membrane but nevertheless exist as distinct compartments. A team of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) scienti…
DALLAS — Nov. 15, 2010 — Tiny molecules called microRNAs act together with hormones to control the onset of labor, raising the prospect that RNA-based drugs might be able to prevent premature labor, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center …
In today’s world of sophisticated organisms proteins are the stars. They are the indispensible catalytic workhorses, carrying out the processes essential to life. But long, long ago ribonucleic acid (RNA) reigned supreme.
Now Northwestern Universi…
Researchers at New York University’s Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences have developed a novel algebraic model of DNA “hybridization,” a process central to most biotechnology devices that monitor changes in cell’s gene expression or charact…
Researchers at North Carolina State University have found a way to “cage” genetic off switches in such a way that they can be activated when exposed to UV light. Their technology gives scientists a more precise way to control and study gene function…
Scientists have demonstrated for the first time that a certain class of RNA (known as long non-protein-coding RNA [lncRNA]) are involved in the host response to viral infection. These findings, published today in the online journal mBio®, could gr…
PHILADELPHIA – When most genes are transcribed, the nascent RNAs they produce are not quite ready to be translated into proteins – they have to be processed first. One of those processes is called splicing, a mechanism by which non-coding gene…
Our genetic material is often compared to a book. However, it is not so much like a novel to be read in one piece, but rather like a cookbook. The cell reads only those recipes which are to be cooked at the moment. The recipes are the genes; ‘readin…
Imagine a war in which you are vastly outnumbered by an enemy that is utterly relentless — attacking you is all it does. The intro to another Terminator movie? No, just another day for microbes such as bacteria and archaea, which face a never-…