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A cell does everything it can to protect its nucleus, where precious genetic information is stored. That includes controlling the movement of molecules in and out using gateways called nuclear pore complexes (NPCs). Now, researchers at The Rockefeller University, Albert Einstein College of Medici...

Caenorhabditis elegans, a tiny roundworm, spends much of its lifetime searching for soil bacteria to eat. This humble creature possesses 302 neurons, which may not seem like a lot compared to the billions of nerve cells that make up the human brain. Nonetheless, it uses sophisticated strategies t...

Inside the trillions of cells that make up the human body, things are rarely silent. Molecules are constantly being made, moved, and modified — and during these processes, mistakes are sometimes made. Strands of DNA, for instance, can break for any number of reasons, such as exposure to UV radiat...

After it is transcribed from DNA, RNA can go on to many fates. While the most familiar path may lead directly to the production of protein, RNA molecules themselves can also become capable of altering the expression of genes. New research helps explain how the destiny of an RNA sequence is achiev...

Cancer researchers are constantly in search of more-effective and less-toxic approaches to stopping the disease, and have recently launched clinical trials testing a new class of drugs called BET inhibitors. These therapies act on a group of proteins that help regulate the expression of many gene...

It is a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease: Toxic protein fragments known as amyloid-β clumped together between neurons in a person’s brain. Neurons themselves make amyloid-β, and for reasons that aren’t fully understood, its accumulation ultimately contributes to the memory loss, personality c...

If you’ve ever found a banana overtaken by a swarm of tiny flies, you were in fact witnessing an orgy of amorous Drosophila melanogaster. These trespassers engage in fervent courtship and mating atop ripe fruits, and the sex is anything but casual. In particular, male flies are very precise in ch...

In equatorial Africa, a region of the globe known as the “lymphoma belt,” children are ten times more likely than in other parts of the world to develop Burkitt’s lymphoma, a highly aggressive blood cancer that can be fatal if left untreated. That area is also plagued by high rates of malaria,...

As Parkinson’s disease progresses in patients, a puzzling dichotomy plays out in their brains. One set of neurons degenerates, while a similar population nearby is spared the same degree of damage. Why the difference? An answer to this question could clear the way for preventions and treatments f...

Dividing cells are prone to errors, and so they must be prepared to summon sophisticated emergency systems to deal with potential damage. One type of division-derailing mishap can occur when assault by certain chemicals causes two strands of DNA to permanently connect when they shouldn’t, in what...