ScienceDaily -- Proteins called cohesins ensure that newly copied chromosomes bind together, separate correctly during cell division, and are repaired efficiently after DNA damage. Scientists at the Carnegie Institution have found for the first time that cohesins are needed in different concentrations for their different functions. This discovery helps to explain how certain developmental disorders, such as Cornelia de Lange and Roberts Syndrome arise without affecting cell division essential to development. The research was made possible by a new technique developed by the scientists for membrane-bound cells (called eukaryotes), which enables scientists to gradually reduce the concentration of a protein in living cells.
