A DNA polymerase is an enzyme that catalyzes the polymerization of deoxyribonucleotides into a DNA strand. DNA polymerases are most well-known for their role in DNA replication, in which the polymerase "reads" an intact DNA strand as a template and uses it to synthesize the new strand. The newly-polymerized molecule is complementary to the template strand and identical to the template's original partner strand. DNA polymerases use a magnesium ion for catalytic activity.
It has long been technically difficult to sequence the genome of a single bacterial cell due to the nearly impossible bias in the gene amplification stage of the process, making it difficult to produce a high-coverage genome sequence from precisely one bacterial cell.
Scientists have known for decades that genes can be transferred from one species to another, both in animals and plants.
A new study adds to an emerging, radically new picture of how bacterial cells continually repair faulty sections of their DNA.
Researchers investigating the growth of a roundworm discovered a tiny RNA molecule that controlled the expression of specific genes in the early 1990s. This resulted in the discovery of microRNAs (miRNAs), which are now known to exist in all forms of life. These molecules, it turns out, play vital functions in a variety of biological processes.
A team of scientists led by Dr. Kei-ichi TAKATA from the Center for Genomic Integrity within the Institute for Basic Science (IBS), has discovered a new type of DNA repair mechanism that cancer cells use to recover from next-generation cancer radiation therapy.
Researchers who are working on CRISPR/Cas9-mediated gene-editing technology have developed a technique to boost editing performance by reducing DNA deletion sizes.
Nucleo-cytoplasmic large DNA viruses (NCLDVs) of the genus Ranavirus (family iridoviridae) have been isolated from aquatic species such as reptiles, amphibians, and bony fish. Poikilotherms are at risk from these promiscuous infections.
Researchers at Queen’s University boarded a modified Falcon 20 aircraft at Ottawa airport on May 22nd, 2019 as part of a scheduled “vomit comet” flight. In this mode of flight, the plane repeatedly climbs in a steep parabola to 8 km, alternating with a freefall descent.
Recent research at the University of Bath reveals that tangles in unwound DNA can develop mutational hotspots in the genomes of bacteria.
Poxviruses have found a unique way of translating their genes into proteins in the infected organism. A team of researchers from Würzburg shows for the first time how the molecular machinery involved works at an atomic level.
Cells include machinery that replicates DNA into a new set, and this, in turn, develops into a newly formed cell.
An international research team headed by Michal Hocek of the Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the Czech Academy of Sciences (IOCB Prague) and Charles University and Ciara K. O'Sullivan of Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV) in Spain have developed a novel method for labeling DNA, which in the future can be used for sequencing DNA by means of electrochemical detection.
Researchers have discovered how specific proteins ensure the rectification of errors introduced into the DNA when it replicates.
Many proteins are required to maintain the structure, and to preserve the genetic integrity, of DNA. Sliding clamps are proteins that increase the efficiency of DNA replication.
It's a fact of life that things break down. And when they do, whether it's your car, the roof, or a blocked artery, there are people who we can call to help with the repairs.
A team of researchers have revealed the mechanism and 3D structure of a complex enzyme that guards cells against persistent DNA damage.