Early-stage Gene Transcription Creates Access To DNA
Tuesday, October 14, 2008 - 16:35
in Biology & Nature
An international team of researchers, probing how a yeast cell senses its cellular environment and makes decisions about whether or not to express a gene, finds the process of transcribing non-coding RNAs is required for the eventual production of the protein-encoding RNA. The transient synthesis of these non-coding RNAs serves to unfurl the tightly wound DNA, essentially loosening the structure to allow for gene expression.