Scientists found that DNA once dismissed as “junk” helps chromosomes find their partners |– timesofindia.indiatimes.com
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EXCERPT:
Every cell that produces eggs or sperm must first sort its chromosomes into matching pairs, lining up each one with its homologous partner before they exchange genetic material. According to the research team, fruit flies carry at least 19 distinct satellite DNA repeats scattered unevenly across their four chromosome pairs. Because each chromosome pair ends up with its own particular combination of these repeats, the arrangement effectively works as an identifying tag, a barcode built entirely from non-coding sequence.The idea that these repeats might guide pairing was first proposed roughly fifty years ago, but earlier experiments deleting satellite DNA from a single chromosome failed to produce any obvious defects, leading many researchers to dismiss the theory.
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