Category: Genetics
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Knowing. Bacteria’s memory (x 100). Humans…
Researchers have identified a mutation that prompts bacterial cells to acquire genetic memories 100 times more frequently than they do naturally. This discovery provides a powerful research tool and could bring scientists one step closer to developing DNA-based data storage devices. (1) We insist on making the cosmos a big computer. We want to make…
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Walking without help. Fate. Genes. Modern neuroscience.
Many new parents still think that babies should develop at their own pace and that they should not be challenged to do things that they are not yet ready for. Infants should learn to roll around under their own power, without any "helpful" nudges, and they should not support their weight before they can stand…
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Why things happen? [OR: The vanity of the mechanistic view]
Forgetting. When it comes to maintaining sanity, forgetting is at least as important as remembering. Without it, the constant stream of stimuli – faces on the street, words read, items glanced at – would quickly overwhelm the mind. But the neural basis underlying the act of forgetting isn't well understood. A new study found that…
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Chromosomes. Pinocchio. Fairy Tales…
Men have one copy, women have two, but scientists have long puzzled over why the human X chromosome mostly contains genes that are active in a small number of tissues. Now, a team of researchers led by the University of Bath studying the evolution of this X chromosome has discovered why it contains such an…
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DNA. On the edge… Breath in.... Breath out!
For a skin cell to do its job, it must turn on a completely different set of genes than a liver cell -- and keep genes it doesn't need switched off. One way of turning off large groups of genes at once is to send them to "time-out" at the edge of the nucleus, where…
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