News tagged with dna strand
Unique study reveals genetic 'spelling mistakes' that increase the risk of common cancers
More than 80 genetic 'spelling mistakes' that can increase the risk of breast, prostate and ovarian cancer have been found in a large, international research study within the framework of the EU Network COGS. For the first ...
Cancer
Mar 27, 2013 |
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New clues in hunt for heredity in type 2 diabetes
Type 2 diabetes has strong hereditary tendencies and the genes we are born with cannot be changed. However, new research from Lund University in Sweden shows that we can modify the function of the genes through the epigenetic ...
Genetics
Mar 19, 2013 |
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Researchers show how cells' DNA repair machinery can destroy viruses
A team of researchers based at Johns Hopkins has decoded a system that makes certain types of immune cells impervious to HIV infection. The system's two vital components are high levels of a molecule that ...
Medical research
Jan 21, 2013 |
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Abnormal DNA maintenance related to cancer
DNA, like houses and cars, needs ongoing maintenance. Rays of ultraviolet sunlight, chemical pollutants and normal biochemical processes in the cell can damage it. Cells routinely repair this damage before making proteins ...
Cancer
Dec 10, 2012 |
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The evolution of human intellect: Human-specific regulation of neuronal genes
A new study published November 20 in the open-access journal PLOS Biology has identified hundreds of small regions of the genome that appear to be uniquely regulated in human neurons. These regulatory differences distinguish us fro ...
Genetics
Nov 20, 2012 |
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DNA packaging discovery reveals principles by which CRC mutations may cause cancer
A new discovery from researchers at Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI) at the University of Utah concerning a fundamental understanding about how DNA works will produce a "180-degree change in focus" for researchers who study ...
Genetics
Nov 16, 2012 |
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New developments reveal a molecule with a promising function in terms of cancer treatment.
Researchers from Inserm and CNRS from the Institute for genetics and molecular and cellular biology (IGBMC) and from the Research Institute at the Strasbourg school of biotechnology (Irebs) have focussed their efforts on ...
Cancer
Oct 30, 2012 |
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Scientists build 'mechanically active' DNA material
Artificial muscles and self-propelled goo may be the stuff of Hollywood fiction, but for UC Santa Barbara scientists Omar Saleh and Deborah Fygenson, the reality of it is not that far away. By blending their ...
Medical research
Oct 23, 2012 |
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Immune cells make flexible choices
Our immune system must be tremendously complex to respond to the unending assault of viruses, bacteria and cancerous cells. One of the mechanisms used by the immune system to cope with the huge variety of possible threats ...
Immunology
Oct 22, 2012 |
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Trojan horse drug therapy provides new approach to treating breast cancer
When Linda Tuttle was diagnosed with breast cancer, she never imagined her experience would inspire her colleagues to design new treatments to tackle the disease.
Cancer
Oct 02, 2012 |
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Nutrition tied to improved sperm DNA quality in older men
A new study led by scientists from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) found that a healthy intake of micronutrients is strongly associated with improved sperm DNA quality in older men. In younger men, ...
Health
Aug 27, 2012 |
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DNA detectives track down nerve disorder cause
Better diagnosis and treatment of a crippling inherited nerve disorder may be just around the corner thanks to an international team that spanned Asia, Europe and the United States. The team had been hunting DNA strands for ...
Neuroscience
Aug 23, 2012 |
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Protein prevents DNA damage in the developing brain and might serve as a tumor suppressor
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital scientists have rewritten the job description of the protein TopBP1 after demonstrating that it guards early brain cells from DNA damage. Such damage might foreshadow later problems, ...
Neuroscience
Apr 23, 2012 |
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Researchers discover new genes contributing to autism, links to psychiatric disorders
A new approach to investigating hard-to-find chromosomal abnormalities has identified 33 genes associated with autism and related disorders, 22 for the first time. Several of these genes also appear to be altered in different ...
Autism spectrum disorders
Apr 19, 2012 |
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Bioinformatics and epigenetics - computer-aided cancer diagnosis
The relatively young research field of epigenetics is the talk of the town. Many scientists expect the research on biochemical modifications beyond the actual DNA strand to lead to huge progress in the understanding ...
Cancer
Mar 02, 2012 |
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DNA
Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms and some viruses. The main role of DNA molecules is the long-term storage of information. DNA is often compared to a set of blueprints or a recipe, or a code, since it contains the instructions needed to construct other components of cells, such as proteins and RNA molecules. The DNA segments that carry this genetic information are called genes, but other DNA sequences have structural purposes, or are involved in regulating the use of this genetic information.
Chemically, DNA consists of two long polymers of simple units called nucleotides, with backbones made of sugars and phosphate groups joined by ester bonds. These two strands run in opposite directions to each other and are therefore anti-parallel. Attached to each sugar is one of four types of molecules called bases. It is the sequence of these four bases along the backbone that encodes information. This information is read using the genetic code, which specifies the sequence of the amino acids within proteins. The code is read by copying stretches of DNA into the related nucleic acid RNA, in a process called transcription.
Within cells, DNA is organized into X-shaped structures called chromosomes. These chromosomes are duplicated before cells divide, in a process called DNA replication. Eukaryotic organisms (animals, plants, fungi, and protists) store most of their DNA inside the cell nucleus and some of their DNA in the mitochondria (animals and plants) and chloroplasts (plants only). Prokaryotes (bacteria and archaea) however, store their DNA in the cell's cytoplasm. Within the chromosomes, chromatin proteins such as histones compact and organize DNA. These compact structures guide the interactions between DNA and other proteins, helping control which parts of the DNA are transcribed.
For more information about DNA, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
