Condensin
Understanding chromosome organisation
EMBL scientists and collaborators help reveal the process by which enormous quantities of DNA are folded into cells.
Reshaping our DNA
DNA is present in each cell of our body. If all the DNA from one human cell was removed and aligned in a single strand, it would in theory add up to a total length of about two metres. In order to fit into the nucleus of a cell, DNA has to be compressed by […]
Loops, loops and loops: how DNA gets organised
Researchers from Delft University and EMBL crack the mystery of condensin’s neat DNA loop extrusion
Keeping it together
As any rock-climber knows, trailing a long length of rope behind you is not easy. A dangling length of rope is unwieldy and hard to manoeuvre, and can get tangled up or stuck on an outcropping. Cells face the same problem when dragging chromosomes apart during cell division. The chromosomes are…
