For successful cell division, chromosomal DNA needs to be packed into compact rod-shaped structures. Defects in this process can lead to cell death or diseases like cancer. A new study has shown how ...

Not all DNA looks like the familiar double helix. Sometimes, parts of our genetic code fold into unusual shapes under certain conditions. One such structure known as a G-quadruplex (G4) looks like a ...

Scientists from Delft, Vienna, and Lausanne discovered that the protein machines that shape our DNA can switch direction. Until now, researchers believed that these so-called SMC motors that make ...

Among the many marvels of life is the cell's ability to divide and thus enable organisms to grow and renew themselves. For this, the cell must duplicate its DNA – its genome – and segregate it equally ...

Changes in genes have been linked to the development of different diseases for a while. However, it's not exactly clear what ...

Genome instability can cause numerous diseases. Cells have effective DNA repair mechanisms at their disposal. A research team has now gained new insights into the DNA damage response. Whenever cells ...

Labs around the world are trying to turn cells into autobiographers, tracking their own development from embryos to adults. By Carl Zimmer Shortly after conception, a fertilized egg divides, becoming ...

A stretch of viral DNA in the mouse genome gives cells in early-stage embryos the potential to become almost any cell type in ...