RNA Polymerase (shown in blue) moves across a template strand of DNA (shown in purple) and transcribes it into RNA (shown in red). But DNA damage blocks the RNA polymerase, causing it to stall and ...

A team of physicists working at the intersection of theory and experiment are shedding new light on the 'teamwork' of molecular motors -- called RNA polymerases (RNAPs) -- that mediate DNA ...

When the molecular machinery in our cells gets to work transcribing the genetic information encoded in DNA into messenger RNA (mRNA), it pauses shortly after starting. Known as promoter-proximal ...

As imaging tools continue to get more sophisticated, researchers have been able to actually watch biological processes as they are happening in live cells. Scientists have now visualized loops of DNA ...

September 14, 2001 -- Researchers have found a new example of how the machinery that controls the transcription of DNA to messenger RNA (mRNA) is tailored to specific cells or genes. In studies in ...

Transcription factors control how cells work because they activate specific genes to produce proteins. If used as drugs, the factors could be equally powerful by boosting underperforming cellular ...

Researchers have discovered that in thale cresses histone H3 lysine-9 (H3K9) methylation, conventionally thought to be a mark of turning off gene transcription, can also turn on gene expression via ...

Every living cell must interpret its genetic code - a sequence of chemical letters that governs countless cellular functions. A new study by researchers from the Center for Theoretical Biological ...

A detailed picture of what happens when DNA transcription is paused early in the process has been obtained by structural biologists at RIKEN. This could inform the development of new therapies.