DNA replication is a fundamental process essential for bacterial growth and survival. Initiation begins at the chromosomal origin (oriC), where the conserved initiator protein DnaA assembles into an ...

Researchers have modeled a key mechanism by which DNA replicates. The study could help identify new targets to treat disease. Knowing the structure of a complex biological system isn't nearly enough ...

When bacteria cells replicate, they do so a little differently than human cells do. They don't undergo mitosis, a splitting that involves construction of spindles to carefully separate the DNA after ...

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 ...

DNA is the molecular basis of heredity, the inherited traits that pass between generations in a person's family tree. Embodied in the sequence of base pairs, DNA carries information between ...

A new study has found that the photosynthetic bacterium Synechococcus elongatus uses a circadian clock to precisely time DNA replication, and that interrupting this circadian rhythm prevents ...

In a way, sequencing DNA is very simple: There's a molecule, you look at it, and you write down what you find. You'd think it would be easy—and, for any one letter in the sequence, it is. The problem ...

University of Pittsburgh researchers have shown for the first time how Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCV), which causes an aggressive skin cancer called Merkel cell carcinoma, initiates DNA replication in ...

Single-cell analysis helps uncover how the BK virus replicates, opening the door to new drug targets. BK polyomavirus (BKPyV) is a major cause of kidney transplant failure. Without a complete ...

This story is part of our series on viroids and virusoids, small infectious RNAs. The story is also the second installment in a series on hepatitis D virus, a virusoid-like pathogen that causes ...