genes

Scientists have shown that E. coli — one of the best known and extensively studied organisms in the world — remains an enigma that may hold the key to human diseases, such as cancer.
The team, funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and based at the University of Dundee has examined the [...]

For about 15 years, scientists have known that certain “junk” DNA — repetitive DNA segments previously thought to have no function — could evolve into exons, which are the building blocks for protein-coding genes in higher organisms like animals and plants. Now, a University of Iowa study has found evidence that a significant number of [...]

Even scientists define ‘a gene’ in different ways, so it comes as little surprise that the media also have various ways of framing the concept of a gene, according to a new study appearing in the October 2008 issue of EMBO reports.
The study, Frame that gene, is based on the analysis of 300 articles in [...]

Crop scientists have cloned a gene that controls the shape of tomatoes, a discovery that could help unravel the mystery behind the huge morphological differences among edible fruits and vegetables, as well as provide new insight into mechanisms of plant development.
The gene, dubbed SUN, is only the second ever found to play a significant role [...]