Skip to main content
Image of postdoctoral researcher Beatrice Toia.
| 3 min read
This postdoctoral researcher studies how telomere dysfunction influences cellular behavior, immune signaling, and mechanisms driving cellular aging and cancer.

DNA damage response

3D illustration of purple neurons.

An Immune Mechanism Maintains Memory

How Plants Protect Their DNA in Space 

To flag neurons that have experienced genotoxic stress, researchers developed an in vivo sensor using an adeno-associated viral vector, called PRISM. Because a cell’s DNA damage response (DDR)—which activates in response to stressors such as environmental toxins or the buildup of misfolded proteins—also responds to invading pathogens, PRISM has an easier time transfecting cells whose damage response mechanisms are preoccupied with existing DNA damage. Once inside, the virus hijacks the neuron’s DNA replication machinery, which reverts an engineered frameshift mutation in the virus and thereby prompts the production of a fluorescent protein that can be observed via microscopy.

Infographic: DNA Damage Viewed with Unprecedented Clarity

Broken DNA

DNA Damage Viewed with Unprecedented Clarity

Abstract Genetics Disease stock photo

Bridging Disciplines to Study CRISPR-Induced Chromosome Destabilization

Bacteriophage (green) attacking a bacterium (orange)

Bacteria Set Off Viral “Bombs” Inside Neighbors

illustration of a broken DNA strand

DNA Damage Makes Zebrafish Sleepy

Stress-Induced Chromosome Changes Protect Flies’ Aging Brains

PARP Inhibitors Are Improving the Outlook of Hard-to-Treat Cancers

Trending

A person on an operation table getting anesthesia. A study revealed sex differences in ketamine anesthesia.

Female Brains Wake Up from Anesthesia Differently Than Male Brains

A woman in her 60s wears a yellow tank top and brown-rimmed glasses while placing a hormone-replacement patch on her upper arm.

Flawed Studies Linked Menopausal Hormone Therapy to Breast Cancer

Photo of John Calhoun crouches within his rodent utopia-turned-dystopia

Universe 25 Experiment

A hand holding $100 bills reaches out of a green-colored laptop screen, indicating a bribe.

Publisher Investigates an Alleged Peer Review Extortion Attempt

Multimedia

Advancing Respiratory Immunity Through Tissue-Resident Memory T Cell Research

Advancing Respiratory Immunity Through Tissue-Resident Memory T Cell Research

Miltenyi
A model of a brain made of flat, multicolored pieces stacked together.

Mapping Tissues with Spatial Biology

August 2026 Digest cover
August 2026

Epic Fail: Sea-Monkeys Sabotage Fieldwork

When Barry Hicks set out to photograph thrombolites, thousands of unexpected visitors photobombed his underwater images.

View this Issue
Advancing Respiratory Immunity Through Tissue-Resident Memory T Cell Research

Advancing Respiratory Immunity Through Tissue-Resident Memory T Cell Research

Miltenyi
Overcoming Immunotherapy Resistance in Liver Cancer

Overcoming Immunotherapy Resistance in Liver Cancer

Axion Biosystems
Optimizing NGS Library Preparation for Reliable Sequencing Data

Optimizing NGS Library Preparation for Reliable Sequencing Data

Covaris
Using TCR Repertoire Sequencing to Advance Immunology Research

Using TCR Repertoire Sequencing to Advance Immunology Research

Miltenyi

Products

Sino Biological Logo

Sino Biological Launches SuperNuclease ® Pro with Free Trial Program

Sino Biological Logo

Sino Biological Launches Precisely Characterized Full-Length p-Tau217 Protein to Advance Next-Generation Alzheimer’s Biomarker Assay Development

A photo of a scientist placing the Resipher device on a 96-well plate.

Resipher: Continuous Live-Cell Mitochondrial Respiration Monitoring in 96-Well Plates

Lucid Scientific logo
Conceptual image of ice and frost.

The VAULT100 PRO: Inside the most advanced Stirling Ultracold ULT freezer ever built.

Stirling Ultracold logo