California Institute of Technology Archive — Page 1 of 1

Stylized molecular biology illustration showing a large pale protein complex surrounding a turquoise curved molecule, with colored molecular spheres and a DNA double helix extending across a bright yellow background.

February 23, 2017

Team identifies ‘switch’ involved in DNA replication

DNA replication is an extraordinarily complex multi-step process that makes copies of the body’s genetic blueprint. It is necessary for growth and essential to life. Now researchers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and Vanderbilt University have found evidence that one of those steps may involve the telephone-like transmission of electrical signals regulated by a chemical “switch.”

By Bill Snyder