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More evidence of fine-tuning in DNA replication

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How human cells coordinate the start of DNA replication
The Origin Recognition Complex (ORC) is a group of proteins required to be fully assembled for the first step in DNA replication. One component of the ORC, ORC1 (visible in this image as bright green dots), is sequestered into droplets in the nucleus of the cell, and allowed to move briefly and assemble with other proteins at the right moment in the cell cycle. Credit: Manzar Hossain/Stillman lab/CSHL, 2021

Not that they call it that, of course.

Throughout most of the cell division cycle, ORC1 and CDC6 amounts oscillate in the cell. Stillman explains that “both high and low amounts of ORC1 lead to severe consequences for cell viability. So, you have to have just the right amount” of each protein throughout the cell cycle. Stillman and his colleagues have shown that CDC6 recruits other regulatory proteins that control the activity and levels of ORC1 in both space and time. They published their findings in Molecular Cell.

Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, “How human cells coordinate the start of DNA replication” at Phys.org

From the caption: “required to be fully assembled for the first step in DNA replication.” Hmm.

“Just the right amount” over and over in a cascade is still just a big accident, right? That’s if you still want your job at the lab…

The paper is closed access.

See also: Dawkins’s claim: “every gene delivers approximately the same tree of life” contested at Nature journal You know, Dawkins may be losing his shine. New Scientist was making similar types of noise last October. It’s now okay to say when there’s something wrong with this stuff.

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