| A newly fertilized egg builds a 3D scaffold of DNAlong before the genome turns on, research on fruit flies revealed yesterday. A companion study on human cells suggests failure of that structure can lead to diseases, including cancer.Researchers studied a fruit fly (drosophila) in the hours after fertilization using a new, highly detailed 3D imaging technology. The goal was to discover what happens before zygotic genome activation, when a genome awakens and the embryo reads its genetic instructions. Until now, the prevailing view has been that the embryo holds a disorderly tangle of DNA. Instead, researchers have learned that the scaffold for DNA—including the assembly of what’s known as chromatin loops—is already happening. Read the full study here.The study was released alongside companion research studying what happens when that scaffolding collapses in humans. Using that same approach, researchers found human cells perceive scaffolding failure as a viral infection, which can trigger changes in gene expression and lead to inflammation, developmental disorders, and cancer.Explore our favorite resources on DNA here. |
