The authors set out to answer a simple question. Do all chromosomes have the same chance of being mis-segregated during cell division? To address this, Klaasen and colleagues turned to several types ...

Using computer simulations, chemists have discovered how nuclear bodies called nucleoli interact with chromosomes in the nucleus, and how those interactions help the nucleoli exist as stable droplets ...

Researchers have made a significant advancement toward understanding how the human genome is organized inside a single cell. This knowledge is crucial for analyzing how DNA structure influences gene ...

The nucleus is also home to small bodies called nucleoli - clusters of proteins and RNA that help build ribosomes. Using computer simulations, MIT chemists have now discovered how these bodies ...

Despite being densely packed to fit into the nucleus, chromosomes storing our genetic information are always in motion. This allows specific regions to come into contact and thereby activate a gene. A ...

Our genome is huge. It's made up of about 3 billion base pairs, and if the whole molecule was stretched to its full length, it would extend for about two meters (over six feet) So it's fairly ...

Almost like a moon in a planet, the exclusome (yellow- green dot) lies in the cytoplasm near the nucleus (blue). Even the remarkably familiar can sometimes yield new discoveries: researchers at ETH ...

Performing cutting-edge science requires thinking outside the box and bringing together different scientific disciplines. Sometimes this even means being in the right place at the right time. For ...

Whether at the start of a sinus infection or a fresh open wound, neutrophils are the first line of defense in an immune attack. 1 In order to rush to the scene to kill infectious microbes, they have a ...

The first theoretical model of condensin, a molecular machine involved in packing and unpacking chromosomes, accurately reproduces all known experiments with just two parameters. To scrunch a ...

Many species undergo programmed DNA elimination, a process where specific parts of the genome found in the original sperm and egg cells are removed from the cells of the developing body. Different ...