Computing Science

DNA is an exotic polymer that measures on the atomic scale in one dimension (width) and the human scale in the other (length). Every human cell contains about two meters of DNA, almost all wound around proteins called histones to form nucleosomes. Nucleosomes group together to form higher levels of structure about which, after a hundred years of investigation, we still know very little. We do know that the DNA packs tightly in some chromosomal territories and loosely in others, forming sheer walls and intergenic fissures, as seen in the cover image from a 3D animation by renowned molecular animator Drew Berry. In "Chromatin Evolving," evolutionary biologist Gregory Babbitt reviews what we know and don't know about the higher-level structures formed by DNA, including how they are investigated, how they affect gene regulation and how they evolve.
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Despite our long familiarity with the chromosome, much about its function and evolution remains a mystery
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