Scientists have found that non-coding ‘junk’ DNA, far from being harmless and inert, could potentially contribute to the development of cancer. Their study has shown how non-coding DNA can get in the ...

For decades, scientists have been puzzled by large portions of the human genome labeled as “junk” DNA, sequences that seemingly serve no purpose. Yet, recent studies suggest these cryptic sequences ...

Non-coding DNA is essential for both humans and trypanosomes, despite the large evolutionary divergence between these two species.

Like its viral cousins, a somewhat parasitic DNA sequence called a retrotransposon has been found borrowing the cell’s own machinery to achieve its goals. In a new work appearing online Wednesday in ...

Like their viral cousins, retrotransposons have been found borrowing the cell's own machinery to achieve their goals. They hijack a little-known piece of the cell's DNA repair function to close ...

Researchers have discovered and characterized a DNA sequence found in jawed vertebrates, such as sharks and humans, but absent in jawless vertebrates, such as lampreys. This DNA is important for the ...

Zettabytes—that’s 10 21 bytes—of data are currently generated every year. All of those cat videos have to be stored somewhere, and DNA is a great storage medium; it has amazing data density and is ...