Scientists Discover How DNA Is Folded Within the Nucleus

mikael writes "Sciencedaily.com is reporting that scientists have discovered how DNA is folded within the nucleus of a cell such that active genes remain accessible without becoming tangled. The first observation is that genes are actually stored in two locations. The first location acts as a cache where all active genes are kept. The second location is a denser storage area where inactive genes are kept. The second observation is that all genes are stored as fractal globules, which allows genes that are used together to be adjacent to each other when folded, even though they may be far apart when unfolded."

Comments

Fascinating

[Taibhsear]

Could all the "junk" DNA that we supposedly don't use maybe have some sort of structural stabilization function? It wouldn't actively code for any proteins but the coding structure itself might allow it to make these shapes and/or allow the globule to move without causing knots in the structure.

Re:Fascinating

[wizardforce]

That is possible, non-coding DNA is already known to be a source of raw material for the evolution of functional genes and contains some gene regulatory regions. The concept that it retains other functions outside of direct coding of proteins isn't a new one. Also, few in the biological scientific community really calls "junk DNA" junk DNA any more because of the inaccuracy of doing so.

Anyone else wish they could read the publication?

[virtualXTC]

Anyone else wish they could read the actual publication? It's sad considering this is partly taxpayer funded and given the NIH's and Harvard's push toward open access that the authors didn't choose a more accessible journal for such a groundbreaking piece of work.