Many viruses, particularly RNA viruses, mutate at a very high rate per genome per replication. One possible explanation is that high mutation rates are selected to meet the challenge of fluctuating ...

This transcript has been edited for clarity. For more episodes, download the Medscape app or subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your preferred podcast provider. Dr Liu is a ...

Despite progress in defining functional elements of noncoding DNA, it is still not fully understood. Researchers, using an experiment that elucidated the function of tens of thousands of noncoding ...

The avian influenza virus needs to mutate to cross the species barrier and to infect and replicate within mammalian cells. Scientists have now deciphered the structure of the avian influenza virus's ...

Across the world, only a few dozen people appear to carry a genetic glitch that lets them brush off viruses that flatten ...

The gene p53 acts as a tumor suppressor and often is called the ‘guardian of the genome.’ This gene is central to maintaining genomic stability, which prevents mutations from accumulating and leading ...

Geneticists looking inside the nuclear genome for mutations that contribute to disease have long relied on a principal known as constraint modeling, which allows researchers to assess the degree of ...

While most known types of DNA damage are fixed by our cells’ in-house DNA repair mechanisms, some forms of DNA damage evade repair and can persist for many years, new research shows. This means that ...