Molecular data storage offers the intriguing possibility of higher theoretical density and longer lifetimes than today's electronic memory devices. Some demonstrations have used deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), but bottlenecks in nucleic acid synthesis continue to make DNA data storage orders of magnitude more expensive than electronic storage media. Additionally, despite its potential for long-term storage, DNA faces durability challenges from environmental degradation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDevelopmental exposure to environmental toxicants has been linked to the onset of neurological disorders and diseases. Despite substantial advances in the field of neurotoxicology, there remain significant knowledge gaps in our understanding of cellular targets and molecular mechanisms that mediate the neurotoxicological endpoints associated with exposure to both legacy contaminants and emerging contaminants of concern. Zebrafish are a powerful neurotoxicological model given their high degree sequence conservation with humans and the similarities they share with mammals in micro- and macro-level brain structures.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMost eukaryotic DNA is packaged into chromatin, which is made up of tandemly repeating nucleosomes. This packaging of DNA poses a significant barrier to the various enzymes that must act on DNA, including DNA damage response enzymes that interact intimately with DNA to prevent mutations and cell death. To regulate access to certain DNA regions, chromatin remodeling, variant histone exchange, and histone post-translational modifications have been shown to assist several DNA repair pathways including nucleotide excision repair, single strand break repair, and double strand break repair.
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