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illustration of a large purple molecular complex with a strand of orange RNA running through it and red strand emerging from it
Study Reveals Outsize Role of mRNA Region in Tuning Expression
A new method helps researchers uncover the rules of ribosome recruitment in yeast.
Study Reveals Outsize Role of mRNA Region in Tuning Expression
Study Reveals Outsize Role of mRNA Region in Tuning Expression

A new method helps researchers uncover the rules of ribosome recruitment in yeast.

A new method helps researchers uncover the rules of ribosome recruitment in yeast.

translation

Fruit flies in a vial
Accurate Protein Production Promotes Longevity
Ruth Williams | Sep 15, 2021 | 3 min read
Worms, flies, and yeast live longer if the fidelity of their protein-making machinery is improved, a study shows.
A microscope image of a dinoflagellate.
Dinoflagellate Genome Structure Unlike Any Other Known
Amanda Heidt | May 10, 2021 | 5 min read
The transcription of DNA drives the remarkably tidy organization of chromosomes in the dinoflagellate Symbiodinium microadriaticum.
Maintaining Hormone Balance Through RNA Decay
The Scientist Speaks - What Comes Up Must Go Down: Maintaining Hormone Balance Through RNA Decay
The Scientist’s Creative Services Team | 1 min read
Neelanjan Mukherjee discusses how RNA decay is essential for regulating a blood pressure-controlling hormone.
How RNAs Called SINEUPs Upregulate Translation
Catherine Offord | Jan 1, 2021 | 2 min read
The recently discovered long noncoding RNAs seem to boost the production of specific proteins in the cell by interacting with RNA-binding proteins, researchers find.
Infographic: Synthetases and the Evolution of Circulatory Systems
Amber Dance | Jun 1, 2020 | 3 min read
Aminoacyl tRNA synthetases picked up new protein domains that participate in vasculature formation around the same time that organisms evolved key adaptations in the circulatory system.
The Scientist Speaks - Thieves on the Inside: Viral Control of Host Gene Expression
Niki Spahich, PhD | 1 min read
Britt Glaunsinger discusses how viruses steal from their hosts to take over cellular processes and promote their own survival.
Protein Synthesis Enzymes Have Evolved Additional Jobs
Amber Dance | Jun 1, 2020 | 10+ min read
Aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases, which help translate the genetic code into protein, also function in angiogenesis, fat metabolism, and more.
Paper Used in Creationist Teaching Retracted After 30 Years
Ashley Yeager | Nov 11, 2019 | 2 min read
Criticism of the paper first surfaced in 1994, and its author was accused of scientific misconduct.
translation gene genetics ribosome enhancers knowable magazine
What Does It Look Like to “Turn On” a Gene?
Alla Katsnelson, Casey Rentz, and Knowable Magazine | May 3, 2019 | 8 min read
Only recently have scientists directly witnessed this most pivotal of events in biology, thanks to new technology that allows them to observe the process in living cells. It’s teaching them a lot.
Study: Ribosomes are Functionally Diverse
Diana Kwon | Jun 22, 2017 | 2 min read
New research suggests that the cells’ protein factories have preferences for specific messenger RNAs they translate. 
Mouse Livers Grow and Shrink Daily
Abby Olena, PhD | May 4, 2017 | 3 min read
Feeding-fasting rhythms and light-dark cycles direct regular changes in organ and cell size, as well as ribosome number and protein levels.
Noncoding RNA Helps Cells Recover from DNA Damage
Diana Kwon | May 1, 2017 | 2 min read
Scientists discover transcripts from the same gene that can express both proteins and noncoding RNA.
 
Starvation Response Triggers Melanoma Invasion
Catherine Offord | Apr 1, 2017 | 2 min read
Through similar mechanisms, amino acid depletion in culture and cytokine activity in the tumor microenvironment prompt cancer cells to metastasize.
Top Technical Advances 2016
Kerry Grens | Dec 15, 2016 | 4 min read
The year’s most impressive achievements include methods to watch translation in cells, trace cell fates, avoid mitochondrial mutations, edit DNA, and build antibiotics from scratch.
Protozoans Found With No Dedicated Stop Codons
Karen Zusi | Oct 1, 2016 | 3 min read
Some ciliates use the same trio of nucleotides to code for an amino acid and to stop translation.
How to Track Translation in Living Cells
Ruth Williams | Oct 1, 2016 | 4 min read
Four independent research groups develop techniques for visualizing peptide production in living cells.
Ciliates Are Genetic-Code Deviants
Karen Zusi | Sep 30, 2016 | 1 min read
Traditional stop codons have a double meaning in the protozoans' mRNA, sometimes calling for an amino acid during translation.
Scientists Catch Translation in the Act
Ruth Williams | Sep 30, 2016 | 1 min read
Newly developed techniques from four different groups rely on the same basic steps to track translation in live cells.
Wanted: Transcriptional Regulators
Ruth Williams | Aug 1, 2016 | 2 min read
Researchers have designed a screen to find unique molecules, called riboswitches, that determine whether transcription will proceed.
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