Washington, DC, USA. A fundamental mechanism inhibits gene expression during translation or hinders the transcription of specific genes. Called RNA interference (RNAi), it targets RNA that is significant for some forms of our innate immune response and plays a key role in regulating development and genome maintenance.

RNAi has a selective and robust effect on gene expression, making it an essential research tool in cell culture and living organisms. The introduction of synthetic dsRNA into cells can induce the suppression of specific genes. Large-scale screens that systematically shut down each gene in the cell use RNAi to help identify the components necessary for a particular cellular process or an event su

New Haven, CT, USA. The mouse is commonly used as a model organism in biomedical research. For example, a great deal of work has been done to figure out what a particular gene does in an organism. Scientists can replace the subject gene with a non-functional version and breed the individual, then look at the offspring to obseve the effects.

As a result of this and other techniques, the mouse has become a crucial part of scientific history through its contributions in understanding human genetics and disease. In a new review, genetics researchers from Yale University School of Medicine and Fudan University School of Life Sciences discuss the history and future of this important model organism.

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Cambridge, MA, USA. The genome contains a lot of data that has to be collected, cleaned, normalized, processed, and analyzed in a manner. This has to be done in a manner that enhances understanding and can lead to new insights. With increasing computer power available, data visualization has come into its own.

Scientists and others have communicated using visual media since the dawn of humanity. However, the advent of serious attention to the genome has resulted in the collection of and vast quantities of new data. Researchers collect vast amounts of diverse genomic data with ever-increasing speed, but effective ways to visualize these data in an integrated manner have lagged behind the ability to generate th

San Antonio, TX, USA. Repair mechanisms exist throughout the human body, but what happens when DNA is broken? The genome itself is the source of our body and any unrepaired — or poorly repaired — breaks can have profound consequences. The result can be anomalous birth conditions and often-fatal diseases.

Generally speaking, broken pieces of DNA in our cells reunite as they are repaired. These pieces tether together following a quick and precise [N1] process of mutual identification. A suppressor gene called ATM choreographs this fast-paced, but reliable, reassembly operation. But happens when an important mechanism for repair is itself broken?

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