Chromosomes reconfigure as cell division ends
Friday, February 5, 2016 - 14:03
in Biology & Nature
Cellular senescence—when a cell can no longer divide—is a programmed stage in a cell's life cycle. Sometimes, as in aging, we wish it didn't happen so much and sometimes, as in cancer, we wish it would happen more. Given its important impacts on health, biologists wish they could explain more about what's happening in cells when senescence takes hold. A new study helps by showing that chromosomes become somewhat transformed, altering their patterns of gene expression.