Researchers have identified a molecular brake that limits DNA replication in healthy cells, revealing how cells prevent a long-suspected replication catastrophe and pointing to a potential ...

The DNA packed inside every human cell contains instructions for life, written in billions of letters of genetic code. Every time a cell divides, the complete code, divided among 46 chromosomes, must ...

So-called junk DNA was given that unfortunate nickname because its function was so mysterious. These vast regions of the genome do not code for protein and are made up of highly repetitive sequences.

Every time a cell divides, it must copy its entire genome so that each daughter cell inherits a complete set of DNA. During that process, enzymes known as polymerases race along the DNA to copy its ...