Machines can now analyze up to 1,000 DNA units an hour, thus bringing the cost of that enterprise down to a mere $3 billion.

He later became the head of its DNA unit.

The DNA unit was shut down soon afterward, and it remains closed.

These alterations, or mutations, are changes in the sequence of DNA units that make up the p53 gene.

And synthetic DNA units are already being used in at least one genetic test.

Any two individuals differ on average in one nucleotide, or DNA unit, in every thousand.

They then found that the switch of a single DNA unit in the gene determines whether a person has wet or dry earwax.

The laboratory shut its DNA unit in January after a state audit found many similar problems.

Various rare events can make this happen, but none involve altering the actual sequence of DNA units in the gene.

One special capability, though, is a family of proteins that evict damaged DNA units from the cell.