A foot in the door to genetic information

In the cell nucleus, DNA wraps around what are called histone proteins, forming regularly spaced spherical bodies called nucleosomes. Thus, large portions of the genetic material are inaccessible to the gene reading machinery. Scientists at the German Cancer Research Center have now simulated at high time resolution how short DNA segments repeatedly detach spontaneously from the nucleosome. The group has been the first to demonstrate that the spool-shaped histone proteins have an active role in opening access to the genetic information.

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