This news item is about: DNA is a blueprint for cells to make proteins that allow those cells to function properly. To create the proteins, enzymes copy genetic codes from DNA strands and then transfer the instructions onto RNA in a process called transcription. Almost all forms of animal life – from fruit flies to butterflies to mammals – contain a pause in transcription, a step that appears to allow the transcription machinery to take a break to fine-tune its copying process. No one knows when this pause originated in the evolution of life. Charles Danko, assistant professor of genetics and molecular biology at the Baker Institute for Animal Health, will investigate that question with a three-year, $790,000 grant from NASA’s Exobiology program.