Half a century ago, scientists Jim Watson and Alexey Olovnikov independently realized that there was a problem with how our DNA gets copied. A quirk of linear DNA replication dictated that telomeres ...

As DNA strands ravel and unravel in an intricate dance, one notable event takes center stage: replication. This process is essential to life, but the finer details of its orchestrated steps are still ...

Scientists discovered that the protein RPA plays a critical and previously unconfirmed role in stimulating telomerase to maintain long, healthy telomeres. When RPA malfunctions, telomeres can shorten ...

The University of Wisconsin’s Lim Lab has identified the cause of chromosome instability associated with a range of genetic diseases. Their findings, published in Science, attributed dysfunction in a ...

In absence of TARG1, ADP-ribose accumulated at telomeres, leading to disruption of telomere replication and premature telomere shortening. To show that these telomere defects were due to modification ...

In a major scientific leap, researchers at the University of Wisconsin–Madison have uncovered a long overlooked function of a protein that helps explain why some people develop severe and sometimes ...

There’s a new argument against “junk DNA.” In this microscope image, the ends of chromosomes are protected by specific DNA sequences called telomeres, visualized here in red. Credit: National ...

A new study led by University of Pittsburgh and UPMC Hillman Cancer Center researchers shows that an enzyme called PARP1 is involved in repair of telomeres, the lengths of DNA that protect the tips of ...