via UCR Today: New Laboratory Test Assesses How DNA Damage Affects Protein Synthesis.
RIVERSIDE, Calif. — Transcription is a cellular process by which genetic information from DNA is copied to messenger RNA for protein production. But anticancer drugs and environmental chemicals can sometimes interrupt this flow of genetic information by causing modifications in DNA.
Chemists at the University of California, Riverside have now developed a test in the lab to examine how such DNA modifications lead to aberrant transcription and ultimately a disruption in protein synthesis.
Study results appeared online in Nature Chemical Biology on Aug. 19.