Safeguarding genome integrity through extraordinary DNA repair
Tuesday, April 19, 2011 - 10:20
in Biology & Nature
Once called "junk DNA" because it contains numerous repeated short sequences that don't code for proteins, heterochromatin is in fact vital for normal growth and function. Yet it poses special challenges to accurate DNA repair. Scientists have discovered an unsuspected and dramatic process by which double-strand breaks in heterochromatin are repaired in dynamic stages.