2017
Overview
Single-strand annealing is a mechanism of DNA repair and recombination used by cells to mend double-strand breaks, particularly when the break occurs between two repeated sequences of DNA. In this process, the broken DNA ends are trimmed back to expose single-stranded regions; complementary repeated sequences on either side of the break then pair, or anneal, with one another, and the intervening DNA and overhanging single-stranded flaps are removed before the strands are joined. Because single-strand annealing relies on direct repeats and deletes the sequence between them, it is inherently error-prone and results in the loss of genetic material, distinguishing it from more precise homology-directed repair. Understanding this pathway is important in molecular biology and genome stability, as it influences how cells respond to DNA damage and has implications for genome editing and the study of genetic rearrangements. As a journal covering DNA and RNA research, this page situates single-strand annealing within the broader study of nucleic acid biology. The article record currently associated here does not include studies specifically examining single-strand annealing, so no individual papers are cited; the page instead provides an encyclopedic overview of the process, its role in repairing double-strand breaks, and its significance for genome stability, consistent with the journal's nucleic acid scope.
Research published in this journal
1 peer-reviewed article, ranked by relevance. Each links to its DOI.
How this research is being cited
The 1 article above has been cited 2 times in the scholarly literature. Citation data via OpenAlex and Crossref, updated Jun 2026.
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2023 · ChemBioChem
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2022 · ChemBioChem
A sample of recent works citing this journal's research on Single-strand Annealing, linking to each citing work.