Tag: chromatin
More Jobs for “Junk” DNA
It turns out the mouse endogenous retrovirus L (MERVL) is essential for embryogenesis, according to a recently published article.
Cell Fate: Another Hurdle for Evolution
When a stem cell divides, one daughter cell must maintain its stemness while the other specializes. Therein lies another truckload of requirements.
DNA Packing: One of the Supreme Wonders of Nature
The cell packs two meters of DNA into a 10-micron nucleus. How? The machinery is as intelligently designed as the genome itself.
Cells Use Loop Extrusion to Keep DNA Optimized
A paper illustrates the action of DNA loop extrusion processes, which serve multiple functions to maintain the genome, with an interesting graphic: gears.
Histone Code: A Challenge to Evolution, an Inference to Design
Histones are responsible for organizing and packaging the DNA of a cell nucleus into structural units known as nucleosomes.