A new article analyzes in depth the physical problems associated with DNA packaging that have often been neglected in structural models of chromosomes. The study demonstrates that the multilaminar ...

Among the many marvels of life is the cell's ability to divide and thus enable organisms to grow and renew themselves. For this, the cell must duplicate its DNA—its genome—and segregate it equally ...

Reporting in Nature, scientists have identified a novel process that protects the ends of chromosomes from incorrectly applied DNA repair. Although DNA repair is a crucial mechanism that can protect a ...

The Atlas blue butterfly, with a record-breaking 229 pairs of chromosomes, is helping scientists unravel mysteries of ...

When a sperm meets an egg, a lot has to go right for an embryo to develop into a complete organism. One critical step of ...

During sexual reproduction, haploid gametes (i.e. eggs and sperm) are generated from diploid precursors through the specialized cell division of meiosis. Meiosis reduces ploidy by following one round ...

Scientists have used human skin cells to produce functional eggs using a new scientific technique they say could one day help ...

In about one out of every 800 people, two chromosomes fuse together to form an unusual bond. These are known as Robertsonian chromosomes. It's a mystery that has long stumped scientists.

Neanderthals, the closest cousins of modern humans, lived in parts of Europe and Asia until their extinction some 30,000 years ago. Genetic studies are revealing ever more about the links between ...