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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).

Scientists Move Beyond Individual Genes to Decode Schizophrenia’s Complex Genetic Network

Scientists have long known that schizophrenia runs in families, but pinpointing exactly which genes contribute to risk has been like searching for needles in a haystack. Now, researchers at the Lieber Institute for Brain Development and a consortium of collaborators from the University of Bari, Italy, and over 60 psychiatric hospitals all over the world, have developed a groundbreaking approach that looks beyond individual genes.

23 Jun 2026

Study Reveals How Arsenic Pollution Alters Bacterial Metabolism and Detoxification

As arsenic levels increased, bacterial richness and diversity declined, while arsenic-tolerant groups such as Proteobacteria became more abundant. The study also found that bacteria strengthened stress-response pathways, including signal transduction and cell motility, and upregulated arsenic-resistance genes such as arsC2 and arsB.

23 Jun 2026

Cryo-EM Imaging Uncovers the Structure of a Mysterious Molecular "Gate"

How large, fully folded proteins can pass through cell membranes without destroying them has long been one of the open questions in cell biology. Using cryo-electron microscopy (cryo‑EM), Leonid Sazanov and Ziyu Zhao at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA) have now uncovered new details about a molecular "gate." Their findings were published in Molecular Cell.

23 Jun 2026

New Genetic Discovery Explains Why Colorectal Cancer Spreads so Quickly

Loss of GATA6-a transcription factor that controls which genes are turned on or off-can reprogram colorectal cancer cells into more primitive, adaptable states that can then spread to the liver and establish new tumors, according to Weill Cornell Medicine and Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers.

23 Jun 2026

Scientists Discover Hidden Brain Development Signaling Pathway

The cytoskeleton gives cells their shape and helps them move. Researchers at Helmholtz Munich and the Ludwig Maximilian University now show that, in neural stem cells, proteins of the cytoskeleton are also found in the cell nucleus, where they can influence developmental programs.

23 Jun 2026

New Research Examines How Blood Cancer Mutations Progress from Healthy States

Researchers have found that a genetic mutation associated with a rare group of blood cancers does not always result in development of the disease. The work provides insight into the initial phases of the disease and may eventually lead to tailored monitoring techniques that improve patient outcomes.

22 Jun 2026

Single-Cell Analysis Uncovers How Cancer Tumors Diversify and Resist Treatment

A comprehensive multi-cancer study from researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center has revealed that cancer cells within tumors are genetically diverse, yet all carry the same core genetic changes that can be traced back to a common ancestral cell, providing a single-cell view of how tumors adapt, survive and diversify. Understanding this helps explain why some cancer cells manage to survive treatments, paving the way for more tailored diagnostic and therapeutic strategies.

22 Jun 2026

Childhood Adversity Leaves Coordinated Epigenetic Marks Across Tissues

The experiences we face early in life may leave their marks on our health in ways that echo across decades-and even across the entire body.

19 Jun 2026

Researchers Map Molecular Pathways Behind Diverse Autism Genes

Hundreds of genes have been linked to autism, yet the precise molecular and cellular mechanisms behind it remain largely unclear.

19 Jun 2026

Taste and Smell Genetic Receptors Shape Long-Term Disease Risks

Imagine if a doctor could look at your DNA and predict not just your disease risk, but also which foods you're drawn to – and whether those cravings are quietly protecting you.

19 Jun 2026

Ancient Plague Killed Hunter Gatherers Long Before Medieval Cities

Plague is commonly associated with rats, crowded medieval cities, and the epidemics that swept across Europe during and after the Middle Ages.

18 Jun 2026

Migrating Neurons Break and Repair Their Own DNA During Brain Cortex Formation

Newborn nerve cells must squeeze through crowded, narrow spaces-through dense tissue, past other cells, between fibers-to reach the areas where they form neural circuits in the brain cortex.

18 Jun 2026

RNA-Based Barcoding Tool Tracks Virus-Host Interactions Inside Bacterial Communities

An interdisciplinary team of Rice University researchers has uncovered previously unknown relationships between bacteriophages - viruses that infect bacteria - and their bacterial hosts, offering a powerful new tool for next-generation microbiome engineering.

17 Jun 2026

Genome Sequencing Unlocks Ancestral History of North Atlantic Founder Population

Genome sequencing has revealed insights into how current-day residents of the Faroe Islands can trace their ancestry to a North Atlantic founder population and how evolutionary forces have shaped their genomes since.

17 Jun 2026

Single Cell Tracking Explains Why Certain Cancer Cells Survive Treatments

17 Jun 2026

Scientists Bring Ancestral Cell Membrane Proteins Back to Active Life

Resurrecting dinosaurs using DNA retrieved from a mosquito trapped in amber is a great movie plot, though it's less likely to happen in the real world.

17 Jun 2026

Molecular Cell Study Explains Gut Microbiome Impact on Liver Genes

A local research study led by scientists from the A*STAR Genome Institute of Singapore (A*STAR GIS) has uncovered how the gut microbiome can influence gene activity in the liver by acting on short stretches of regulatory DNA that function like molecular "switches".

16 Jun 2026