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 ...

Scientists at the Stowers Institute for Medical Research have, for the first time, identified the exact location where human chromosomes break and fuse to form Robertsonian chromosomes. The discovery ...

Scientists have discovered a new property of the molecular motors that shape our chromosomes. While six years ago they found that these so-called SMC motor proteins make long loops in our DNA, they ...

The human genetic blueprint is deceptively simple. Our genes are tightly wound into 46 X-shaped structures called chromosomes. Crafted by evolution, they carry DNA and replicate when cells divide, ...

The structure of how DNA is stored in archaea makes a significant difference to how quickly it evolves, according to a new study by Indiana University researchers. The study, led by molecular ...

Retrotransposons are sequences of DNA in animal genomes that can replicate and reinsert themselves back into the genome. Experiments in flies and other model systems reveal that retrotransposons ...

There are only so many ways to cram DNA into a cell’s nucleus, a study suggests. A cell’s complete genetic blueprint, or genome, is densely packed into chromosomes, condensing meters of DNA into a ...