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DNA

number of breaks: 19

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UV light is not all bad for DNA

A bright, sunny summer day, no sunscreen, and there it is: you got a sunburn. On their way to self-destruction, your skin cells’ DNA has been damaged by the solar ultraviolet (UV) light. Absorbing UV, some DNA bases undergo a chemical reaction, called photocyclization, linking... click to read more

Views 1549
Reading time 3 min
published on Apr 26, 2023
A Nobel Prize technique in the fight against cancer

Genome editing is the ability to modify an organism's genetic information, stored in the DNA. In order to alter the genome, scientists were inspired by a system found in nature called CRISPR/Cas9. It is a primitive immune system found in bacteria that allows them to... click to read more

  • Sofia Spataro | PhD Student at University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
Views 3190
Reading time 3 min
published on May 5, 2021
Extending the genomic record of human diversity

The genetic material of any two humans is 99.9% identical, but the small differences that do exist between our genomes provide a record of the complex evolutionary history we have undergone as a species. Over the past decade, scientists have sequenced a large number of... click to read more

  • Anders Bergström | Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Wellcome Sanger Institute, Cambridge, UK; The Francis Crick Institute, London, UK
Views 2965
Reading time 4 min
published on Mar 25, 2021
The inanimate building-blocks for a living synthetic cell

In the field of "bottom-up" synthetic biology, we aim to build lifelike systems from inanimate building blocks. From this approach, we hope to gain deeper insights into the fundamental processes of life and develop new technological innovations. One such significant and possibly the most remarkable... click to read more

  • Kai Libicher | PhD student at Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry, Am Klopferspitz 18, 82152 Martinsried, Germany
  • Hannes Mutschler | Professor at Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry, Am Klopferspitz 18, 82152 Martinsried, Germany
Views 4231
Reading time 3.5 min
published on Dec 22, 2020
Vicious Circles – how changes in the shape of DNA can drive cancer

The diploid human genome contains 23 pairs of chromosomes whose DNA encodes genes for life activities, such as cell division. Cancer corrupts those genes, making growth-promoting genes more active (oncogenes) or growth-inhibiting genes (tumor suppressors) less active. One of the most common genetic alterations causing... click to read more

  • Sihan Wu | Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
  • Paul S. Mischel | Professor at Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
Views 4274
Reading time 3.5 min
published on Aug 17, 2020