Researchers have made a surprising new discovery in the structure of the centromere, a structure that is involved in ensuring that chromosomes are segregated properly when a cell divides. Mistakes in ...

One of the most detailed 3D maps of how the human chromosomes are organized and folded within a cell's nucleus is published in Nature.

Chromosomes are thread-like structures located inside the nucleus of animal and plant cells. Each chromosome is made of protein and a single molecule of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). Passed from ...

Holocentric chromosomes have evolved independently from X-shaped monocentric chromosomes multiple times in both animals and plants, but the mechanism behind the centromere-type transition is unknown.

Scientists have discovered a new property of the molecular motors that shape our chromosomes. While six years ago they found that these so-called SMC motor proteins make long loops in our DNA, they ...

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 ...

Researchers at Rice University are making strides in understanding how chromosome structures change throughout the cell's life cycle. Their study on motorized processes that actively influence the ...

In a major leap forward for genetic and biomedical research, two scientists at the University of Missouri have developed a powerful new artificial intelligence tool that can predict the 3D shape of ...

One of the challenges of working with ancient DNA samples is that damage accumulates over time, breaking up the structure of the double helix into ever smaller fragments. In the samples we've worked ...

Medically reviewed by Nicholas R. Metrus, MD Key Takeaways Mosaic Down syndrome has some cells with three copies of chromosome 21, and some with two instead of all three.Only about 1% to 2% of people ...