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DNA, or deoxyribonucleic acid, is the hereditary material in humans and almost all other organisms. Nearly every cell in a person’s body has the same DNA. Most DNA is located in the cell nucleus (where it is called nuclear DNA), but a small amount of DNA can also be found in the mitochondria (where it is called mitochondrial DNA or mtDNA).

Microbial Signatures Help Distinguish Colorectal Tumors from Other Cancers

Colorectal cancer is unique in having its own microbial 'fingerprint' – according to new research from the University of East Anglia.

4 Sep 2025

Ancient Microbial DNA Recovered from Million Year Old Mammoth Remains

An international team led by researchers at the Centre for Palaeogenetics, has uncovered microbial DNA preserved in woolly and steppe mammoth remains dating back more than one million years.

3 Sep 2025

DNA-Wrapped Nanoparticles Enhance Efficiency of Gene Editing Tools

With the power to rewrite the genetic code underlying countless diseases, CRISPR holds immense promise to revolutionize medicine.

2 Sep 2025

Breakthrough Research Reveals Pathway to Early Protein Synthesis

Chemists at UCL have shown how two of biology's most fundamental ingredients, RNA (ribonucleic acid) and amino acids, could have spontaneously joined together at the origin of life four billion years ago.

28 Aug 2025

New "DNA Organizer" Found to Be Essential for Sperm Stem Cell Development

A research team at Kyoto University has discovered STAG3-cohesin, a new mitotic cohesin complex that helps establish the unique DNA architecture of spermaotogonial stem cells (SSCs), the stem cells that give rise to sperm.

27 Aug 2025

Genes and Diet Work Together to Regulate the Liver’s Circadian Clock

Our bodies follow a natural 24-hour cycle known as the circadian rhythm that influences everything from sleep to metabolism.

27 Aug 2025

Exploring the Regulatory Potential of "Junk DNA"

The non-coding genome, once referred to as "junk DNA," is now understood to be a fundamental regulator of gene expression and a key factor in understanding complex diseases.

25 Aug 2025

Ancient Interbreeding Provided Modern Humans with Useful Genetic Variation

A new study provides fresh evidence that ancient interbreeding with archaic human species may have provided modern humans with genetic variation that helped them adapt to new environments as they dispersed across the globe.

22 Aug 2025

Atomic Force Microscopy and AI Transform Understanding of Tangled DNA

At school, it's often presented as a tidy double helix but scientists are revealing the varied and intricate shapes of DNA molecules.

22 Aug 2025

Epigenetic Noise Enables Cells to Shift Identity and Influence Immunity

All cells in the body contain the same DNA, but different cell types express different genes; skin cells express genes for the skin, liver cells express liver genes, and so on.

21 Aug 2025

Single-Cell Map Reveals Epigenomic Regulation of Human Fat Tissue

A new study has created the first single-cell map of how DNA is regulated and organized inside different cell-types of human fat tissue.

21 Aug 2025

Salk Researchers Create First Genetic Atlas to Span the Entire Arabidopsis Life Cycle

Nearly everything you know about plants was first discovered in a plant you've likely never heard of. Arabidopsis thaliana, also known as thale cress, is a small, flowering weed that has shaped much of plant biology as we know it.

20 Aug 2025

New Tool Offers Insight Into When Genes Turn On and Off in the Brain

A Yale research team has created a new computer tool that can pinpoint when exactly genes turn on and off over time during brain development - a finding that may one day help doctors identify the optimal window to deploy gene therapy treatments.

20 Aug 2025

Amino Acids as Key Mediators in the Tumor Immune Dialogue

The tumor microenvironment is not just a site of cancer growth—it is a high-stakes metabolic contest where tumor and immune cells vie for limited resources.

19 Aug 2025

New Enzyme Technology Illuminates Hidden Sugar Patterns on Cells

Sugars known as glycans form dense envelopes around cells. But they're often ignored in biological investigations because, unlike DNA, proteins and other cellular components, tools to study them are lacking.

18 Aug 2025

Fruit Fly Courtship Behavior Transferred Through Single Gene Manipulation

Researchers in Japan have genetically transferred a unique courtship behavior from one fruit fly species to another.

18 Aug 2025

New Method Enables Human Cells to Initiate Meiosis Outside the Body

More than one-sixth of adults around the world experience infertility in their lifetime. There is a high unmet need not only for increased access to affordable, high-quality fertility care for those in need but, importantly, also for new biomedical solutions that can address the root causes of infertility.

18 Aug 2025