The intron has been a big biological mystery since it was first discovered in several aspects.
First, all of the completely sequenced eukaryotes harbor introns in the genomic structure …

Evolution of exon-intron structure of eukaryotic genes has been a matter of long-standing,
intensive debate. The introns-early concept, later rebranded 'introns first'held that protein …

The MAP kinase signaling cascade Ras/Raf/MEK/ERK has been involved in a large variety
of cellular and physiological processes that are crucial for life. Many pathological situations …

Spider silk threads have exceptional mechanical properties such as toughness, elasticity
and low density, which reach maximum values compared to other fibre materials. They are …

Spider dragline (major ampullate) silk outperforms virtually all other natural and manmade
materials in terms of tensile strength and toughness. For this reason, the mass-production of …

For successful regeneration, the identity of the missing tissue must be specified according to
the pre-existing tissue. Planarians are ideal for the study of the mechanisms underlying this …

DNA methylation of coding regions, known as gene body methylation, is conserved across
eukaryotic lineages. The function of body methylation is not known, but it may either prevent …

Recombination has essential functions in mammalian meiosis, which impose several
constraints on the recombination process. However, recent studies have shown that, in spite …

The exon/intron architecture of genes determines whether components of the spliceosome
recognize splice sites across the intron or across the exon. Using in vitro splicing assays, we …

Several contributing factors have been implicated in evolutionary rate heterogeneity among
proteins, but their evolutionary mechanisms remain poorly characterized. The recently …