Scientists extend mechanism for cracking biochemical code

Since the time of ancient Egypt, humans have been making and breaking secret codes to retain and gain critical information. Human life itself is based upon a genetic code of DNA or RNA sequences which cells read and translate into proteins—the building blocks of life. Recent scientific discoveries have revealed the body’s mechanisms for transcribing DNA regulated by the “histone code”—different chemical marks on the tails of histone proteins, which are macromolecules within cell nuclei responsible for packaging and structuring DNA.