Blog: Scientists Discover New Genetic Sub-Code

Scientists Discover New Genetic Sub-Code
ETH Life (04/22/10)

ETH Zurich and Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics biologists and computer science researchers have identified a genetic sub-code that determines at which rate given products must be made by the cell. The researchers say this information provides new insights into how the cellular decoding machinery works and it makes reading information about gene expression rates easier. "A cell must respond very quickly to injuries such as DNA damage and to potent poisons such as arsenic," says ETH Zurich's Gina Cannarozzi. "The new sub-code enables us to know which genes are turned-on quickly after these insults and which are best expressed slowly." The new sub-code also provides insight into cellular processes at the molecular level and will offer more information about how ribosomes function. This discovery could potentially be exploited to better produce therapeutic agents and research tools.

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