Researchers have identified the mechanism by which protein Zds1 regulates a key function in mitosis, the process that occurs immediately before cell division. The research opens the door to developing targeted and direct therapies against cancer.

Physicists and biologists are addressing an important fundamental question in basic cell biology: how do living cells figure out when and where to grow?

There are always exceptions to a rule, even one that has prevailed for more than three decades, as demonstrated by a new study on RNA splicing, a cellular editing process. The rule-flaunting exception uncovered by the study concerns the way in which a newly produced RNA molecule is cut and pasted at precise locations called splice sites before being translated into protein.

Scientists have taken a first step toward understanding how rare genetic differences among people contribute to leading chronic illnesses. One-letter DNA code changes occur frequently in human genomes, but each variant is usually found in only a few individuals. This phenomenon is consistent with the population explosion of the past 5,000 years. Studying the evolution of rare genetic variants and their health impact is critical as low cost, rapid sequencing enters clinical use. Such information would help doctors interpret personal genomes.

Scientists have used a new technique to map 5-methylcytosine (5-mC) and 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5-hmC) in DNA from human and mouse embryonic stem cells, revealing new information about their patterns of distribution. These studies have revealed that these DNA modifications play major roles in fundamental life processes such as cell differentiation, cancer and brain function.

Over the past decade, research in the field of epigenetics has revealed that chemically modified bases are abundant components of the human genome and has forced us to abandon the notion we've had since high school genetics that DNA consists of only four bases.

Biologists have succeeded in engineering algae to produce potential candidates for a vaccine that would prevent transmission of the parasite that causes malaria.

Researchers have transplanted a set of human genes into a zebrafish and then used it to identify genes responsible for head size at birth. This finding also is related to some cases of autism and possibly schizophrenia and childhood obesity.

Scientists have discovered promiscuous sharing of large regions of DNA code among species by sequencing the genome of a South American butterfly.

Microscopes provide valuable insights in the structure and dynamics of cells, in particular when the latter remain in their natural environment. However, this is very difficult especially for higher organisms. Researchers have now developed a new method to visualize cell structures of an eighth of a micrometer in size in living fish larvae.