In the nucleus of each cell, the DNA molecule is packaged into thread-like structures called chromosomes. Each chromosome is made up of DNA tightly coiled many times around proteins called histones that support its structure.
Chromosomes are not visible in the cell’s nucleus—not even under a microscope—when the cell is not dividing. However, the DNA that makes up chromosomes becomes more tightly packed during cell division and is then visible under a microscope. Most of what researchers know about chromosomes was learned by observing chromosomes during cell division.
Each chromosome has a constriction point called the centromere, which divides the chromosome into two sections, or “arms.” The short arm of the chromosome is labeled the “p arm.” The long arm of the chromosome is labeled the “q arm.” The location of the centromere on each chromosome gives the chromosome its characteristic shape, and can be used to help describe the location of specific genes.
To create new cells, the old cells must divide. This is a constant, frequent, and pervasive process that begins with conception and culminates with death.
Scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have come up with a new tool that has the potential to detach faulty genes and exchange them with new ones in a highly safe and effective way.
Researchers at UF Scripps Biomedical Research have created a potential treatment for a major factor in the development of ALS and dementia that functions by removing disease-causing RNA segments.
The wild ancestor of maize, teosinte, contains three times as much seed protein as the majority of cultivars of maize today. The mechanisms causing the declining seed protein content in maize hybrids and inbred lines were identified by researchers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences Headquarters.
According to a new study, patients with head and neck cancer who have more chromosome 9 genetic material in their cancer cells survive three times longer after accepting immunotherapy than patients who have less of it.
According to Duke Health researchers, the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) appears to be driven into a latent state, lurking in cells only to erupt once more. This immune response likely evolved to help fight infections.
A team of researchers has sequenced the Honeycrisp apple genome, a boon for scientists and breeders working with this popular and economically important cultivar.
Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research and the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization (MPI-DS) suggest an explanation for the century-old mystery of how chromosome recombination is regulated during sexual reproduction.
According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List, Aldabra giant tortoises are in danger of extinction, which means the species stands a high risk of extinction in the wild.
The evolution of a new species by hybridization from two already described species without a change in chromosome number is very rare in the animal kingdom.
People on the island of New Guinea are said to have domesticated bananas 7,000 years ago. However, the history of banana domestication is convoluted, and their categorization is widely discussed, as the boundaries between species and subspecies are frequently ambiguous.
Bananas are thought to have been first domesticated by people 7,000 years ago on the island of New Guinea.
A team from the University of Geneva (UNIGE) has unraveled the precise operation of this defensive mechanism after finding a crucial protein complex that is active when our body is infected by the virus, paving the path for novel treatment targets.
From a platypus to a blue whale, all living mammals today are derived from a single ancestor that existed around 180 million years ago. Although nothing much is known about this species, an international team of experts has now computationally rebuilt how its DNA is organized.
Recent work shows a novel mathematical approach to start comprehending how a cell’s nucleus is structured.
The use of CRISPR/Cas (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats) molecular scissors enables targeted editing, insertion, or suppression of genes in plants.
Researchers at the National Eye Institute (NEI) have demonstrated for the first time how cells across various tissue layers in the eye are impacted in individuals with choroideremia, a rare genetic disorder that causes blindness.
The relatives of the wild tomato, Solanum habrochaites and S. galapagense, are crucial sources of germplasm in contemporary tomato breeding.
A study team has examined chicken germ cells using RNA-sequencing to anticipate the mechanism that determines the sex to better understand the process of the sex determination in the germ cell.
Hidden beneath the delicate, red skin and juicy flesh of a tomato is a wealth of nutrients and genetic makeup. With recent research on the first genome of a species in the tomatillo tribe (part of the tomato family), we now have a better idea of how this vital plant family came to be.