Humans are closely related to chimpanzees and bonobos, but what are the key factors that make humans genetically different? A new study looks at the process of DNA methylation, in which chemical tags ...

In the never-ending battle between bacteria and viruses, both sides devise devious strategies to thwart the other. In a new study, scientists analyzed one such strategy used by the bacterium ...

Scheme showing the structure of cytosine, 5-methylcytosine, and 5-hydroxymethylcytosine. Adding a methyl group to the DNA base cytosine represses gene expression in mammalian cells. To remove the ...

Scientists have taken a major step toward mimicking nature’s tiniest gateways by creating ultra-small pores that rival the dimensions of biological ion channels—just a few atoms wide. The breakthrough ...

In 1869, Swiss scientist Friedrich Miescher isolated a mysterious substance from cell nuclei—an overlooked finding that would later reshape biology and our understanding of life itself. A ...

In a way, sequencing DNA is very simple: There's a molecule, you look at it, and you write down what you find. You'd think it would be easy—and, for any one letter in the sequence, it is. The problem ...

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All the cells in an organism have the exact same genetic sequence. What differs across cell types is their epigenetics-meticulously placed chemical tags that influence which genes are expressed in ...

Cornell researchers have found that a new DNA sequencing technology can be used to study how transposons move within and bind to the genome. Transposons play critical roles in immune response, ...

“The laws of inheritance are quite unknown,” Charles Darwin acknowledged in 1859. The discovery of DNA’s shape altered how we conceived of life itself. The X-ray crystallography by Rosalind Franklin ...

The NovaSeq X Plus is a half-ton machine that looks like an industrial freezer, with a big touchscreen on top and racks to hold cartridges of chemicals below. Its job is to simultaneously sequence 128 ...