Life on Earth depends on the ability of cells to duplicate their genetic material, encoded in DNA molecules, and pass this information on to the next generation. Elucidation of the molecular mechanism ...

The DNA packed inside every human cell contains instructions for life, written in billions of letters of genetic code. Every time a cell divides, the complete code, divided among 46 chromosomes, must ...

Every person starts as just one fertilized egg. By adulthood, that single cell has turned into roughly 37 trillion cells, many of which keep dividing to create the same amount of fresh human cells ...

For the first time, scientists have witnessed the very moment DNA begins to unravel, revealing a necessary molecular event ...

DNA is often likened to a blueprint. The particular sequence of As, Cs, Gs, and Ts in DNA provides information for building an organism. What’s not captured by this analogy is the fact that our DNA ...

Most cancer cells have genomes that are much less methylated than those of normal cells, but whether this loss of methylation, an epigenetic process, has any functional meaning for the cells has long ...

University of Pittsburgh researchers have shown for the first time how Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCV), which causes an aggressive skin cancer called Merkel cell carcinoma, initiates DNA replication in ...

Researchers have shown for the first time how Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCV), which causes an aggressive skin cancer called Merkel cell carcinoma, initiates DNA replication in host cells. University ...

A protein that is involved in determining which enzymes cut or unwind DNA during the replication process has been identified. A protein that is involved in determining which enzymes cut or unwind DNA ...

Scientists have found that non-coding 'junk' DNA, far from being harmless and inert, could potentially contribute to the development of cancer. Their study has shown how non-coding DNA can get in the ...