Circular Chromosomes Straightened

The Scientist » News & Opinion » Daily News A newly described method linearizes circular chromosomes in yeast and caps them with telomeres to mimic natural chromosomes. By Kerry Grens | November 6, 2014   FLICKR, AJ CANN Synthetic biologists often work with circular chromosomes to engineer genetic material because they’re stable and easy to manipulate, but they don’t resemble the natural...

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The RNA World: molecular cooperation at the origins of life.

Abstract The RNA World concept posits that there was a period of time in primitive Earth's history — about 4 billion years ago — when the primary living substance was RNA or something chemically similar. In the past 50 years, this idea has gone from speculation to a prevailing idea. In this Review, we summarize the key logic behind the RNA World and describe some of the most important recent advances that have been made to support and expand this...

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DNA Extraction Kits Contaminated

The Scientist » News & Opinion » Daily News Sequencing study reveals low levels of microbes in lab reagents that can create big problems for some microbiome studies. By Kerry Grens | November 11, 2014   FLICKR, CIMMYT Researchers studying microbiomes can do their best to prevent contamination, but a new study reveals widespread, low-level contamination in DNA extraction kits. Reporting in BMC Biology today...

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