Heterochromatin, sometimes known as the “dark side of the genome,” is a poorly studied fraction of DNA that makes up about half of our genetic material. For more than 50 years scientists have puzzled ...

Aging being the biggest risk factor for neurodegenerative disease, scientists urgently want to know what exactly goes wrong in old cells. In the December 15 Science Advances, researchers led by Samuel ...

Modification of histone tails, by acetylation, methylation or phosphorylation, affects the local chromatin structure and the transcriptional regulation of adjacent genes. Pericentric heterochromatin ...

A powerful new discovery reveals that Nup98 a protein once thought to only ferry molecules through the nucleus plays a vital role in safeguarding the most vulnerable areas of DNA. By forming ...

The human AF10 gene has been associated with chromosomal translocation in acute leukemias. In the March 15 EMBO Reports, Linder et al. describe their study of the Drosophila AF10 homolog, dAF10, in an ...

In mouse models, the aberrant interaction of LINE-1 RNA and SUV39H1 led to heterochromatin erosion and the loss of tissue specific genetic programs. When LINE-1 RNA was depleted in human progeroid ...

The new study reveals a remarkable way that cells keep us safe from transposable elements (TEs) gone wild. The researchers found that cells have taken advantage of an entire protein network to repress ...