The carnivorous plant Utricularia gibba, which inhabits freshwater aquatic environments and has the smallest genome of a multicellular plant ever sequenced, has revealed that non-coding DNA (misnamed junk DNA) might not be necessary for cellular processes . According to an international study in which the National Laboratory of Genomics for Biodiversity LANGEBIO has participated, 97% of the plant genome consists of genes and small DNA fragments that control them. That is, it happens just the opposite of other plants such as corn or tobacco, or in the human genome, where the genes that encode essential proteins represent approximately 2%, and the rest consists of genetic material known as non-coding DNA ( or junk DNA, which does not code to generate proteins).
The expression of the Gadd45g gene is essential in the determination of sex, fertility and development of testicles, as shown by an investigation led by the Higher Council for Scientific Research (CSIC). The work, published in the journal PLOS ONE, reveals that blocking this gene prevents the development of testes and causes the growth of female sexual organs, regardless of the presence of the Y chromosome.
A work published in the journal Cell Reports describes with great precision the map of genomic regulation and offers new keys to understand the differences between animal species and even the development of some diseases. The study, led by researchers from the Carlos III National Center for Cardiovascular Research (Madrid), describes the interaction of five proteins of the Hox system, essential for the development of the embryo.
A team of doctors from Madrid has achieved the birth of the first man free of severe combined immunodeficiency, a rare disease also known as the 'bubble boy syndrome' that affects one in every 100,000 children, thanks to pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD ) before 'in vitro' fertilization. This disease is due to a disorder linked to the X chromosome that causes an intense alteration in the immune system and that can end with the death of children before the age of 2 years, mainly due to infections.
The Hawksbill sea turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata) lives much of the year in water and far from shore. At the beginning of the season, the females mate and are able to store the male's sperm for months to be able to use it when they reach the beaches where they nest.
Scientists at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (USA) have investigated whether there are differences based on sex in the expression of the Foxp2 gene, involved in the development of language in humans and in oral communication in birds and other animals.
In 1953, James Watson and Francis Crick of Cambridge University went down in the annals of science history after publishing an article describing the double helix structure of DNA, the universal chemical code for all life forms in the world. Land. Sixty years later, scientists from the same university have just identified quadruple helix structures in the human genome.
Danni Büchner is invited to Sam Dylan's Halloween party. But the "Goodbye Germany" emigrant has no desire for many other party guests. And find clear words.
