A visit to the gas station: Protein helps power up DNA repair

In a game-changing study, researchers have shown that the enzyme cyclin-dependent kinase 1 (CDK1), which plays a key role in DNA repair, also leaves the nucleus to boost cellular energy production. By irradiating normal cells, the team showed that CDK1 turned up production of ATP, cellular energy packets that -- in this case -- provided the necessary power supply to fix the radiation-damaged DNA.