A team from the Institut Pasteur, working with a Spanish team from the Autonomous University of Madrid, has discovered a new group of DNA polymerases that can start DNA replication without the help of other proteins. All previously known DNA polymerases needed a primer, which could come either from another protein or from a pre-existing DNA or RNA fragment. The discovery of a DNA polymerase that can start DNA synthesis on its own is important from an evolutionary and biotechnological viewpoint. The findings were published in the journal Cell Reports.

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