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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).

PhoBITs Enable Unprecedented Control of Cellular Pathways with Blue Light

Imagine being able to flip a light switch to control disease pathways inside a living cell. A team of visionary researchers at the Texas A&M University Health Science Center (Texas A&M Health) is making this dream a reality with their groundbreaking genetic tools known as photo-inducible binary interaction tools, or PhoBITs.

10 Sep 2025

Researchers Discover Giant DNA Elements Hidden in the Human Mouth

Researchers including those at the University of Tokyo have made a surprising discovery hiding in people's mouths: Inocles, giant DNA elements that had previously escaped detection.

10 Sep 2025

New Method Discovers Genetic Switches More Quickly

Researchers led by Dubravka Vučićević at the Max Delbrück Center have developed a new method for discovering how DNA controls genes. Published in “Cell Genomics,” their technique can reveal the genetic “switches” that regulate important genes more quickly than existing methods.

10 Sep 2025

spVelo: A New Method for Integrating Spatial and Temporal Data in RNA Velocity Analysis

Essentially all cells in an organism's body have the same genetic blueprint, or genome, but the set of genes that are actively expressed at any given time in a cell determines what type of cell it will be and its function.

8 Sep 2025

Discovery of De Novo Genes Sheds Light on Peach Evolution and Traits

The emergence of new genes is a central driver of evolutionary innovation. While mechanisms such as duplication and horizontal gene transfer have been widely studied, de novo gene birth represents a unique pathway where functional genes arise from noncoding DNA.

8 Sep 2025

New Computational Tool Tracks How Genetic Variants Affect mRNA Stability

A pizza shop with 30 delivery people ought to be able to deliver a lot of pizzas - if their cars don't break down on the way.

8 Sep 2025

Earth BioGenome Project Aims to Build a Digital Library of All Life

From the mighty blue whale to the humble baker’s yeast, scientists have barely begun to understand the vast genetic diversity among lifeforms.

5 Sep 2025

Targeting the Oral Metagenome to Boost Healthy Bacteria

Professor Zhang, a chemical and biomolecular engineering professor at UC Berkeley, is working to distinguish between the healthy and unhealthy bacteria in the human mouth. Her goal is to promote a probiotic oral microbiome by increasing the population of beneficial bacteria.

5 Sep 2025

CRISPRi Screening Reveals Genetic Insights into Cyanobacteria Acclimation

Cyanobacteria are the most abundant photosynthetic microorganisms on Earth. They live in nearly every habitat throughout the world, from permafrost to hot springs and from soils to oceans.

5 Sep 2025

BioDlink Expands Ecosystem Alliance to Empower Biotech Innovators Worldwide

As BioDlink, a leading global CDMO, affirms its commitment to strategic alliances to support biotech innovation worldwide as it marks 15 years of operations.

From BioDlink 5 Sep 2025

Scientists Uncover Hidden Role of Cas9 in Building Bacterial Immune Memory

When scientists discovered how bacteria protect themselves against viral invaders, called phages, in the early 2000s, little did they know they'd stumbled upon a revolutionary tool researchers could use to edit the DNA of living cells.

4 Sep 2025

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