By studying the neurons of flies, geneticists at the University of Lausanne have discovered novel folds in the DNA (colored threads here): meta-loops. Specific zones (here the wooden beads), yet far apart on the DNA thread, interact. Labo Gambetta, CIG-UNIL
By studying the neurons of flies, geneticists at the University of Lausanne have discovered novel folds in the DNA (colored threads here): meta-loops. Specific zones (here the wooden beads), yet far apart on the DNA thread, interact. Labo Gambetta, CIG-UNIL - A study published on August 2, 2023 in "Cell" by a team from the University of Lausanne reveals that the way DNA folds back on itself directly influences the development and functioning of the nervous system. DNA is like a thread of wool which, during development, twists around itself to form a chromosome, a ball of yarn. The team led by Maria Cristina Gambetta, Associate Professor at the Centre intégratif de génomique (CIG) in the Faculty of Biology and Medicine at the University of Lausanne, has discovered a new type of fold specifically in neurons. Called meta-loops, they correspond to loops that form when two specific regions far apart on the DNA strand - sometimes at the two ends of a chromosome - come into contact. Mammals, including mice and humans, have similar genetic architectures, but due to the great complexity of these organisms, it has never been possible to determine the role played by these structures," reports Maria Cristina Gambetta, director of the study published August 2 in Cell and carried out in collaboration with EPFL and the universities of Princeton and Warsaw.
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