First 4D map of human genome folding created

Scientists, including one of Indian origin, have created the first high-resolution four- dimensional (4D) map of human gene folding, tracking an entire genome as it folds over time. The advance by researchers, including those from Stanford University and Harvard University in the US, may lead to new ways of understanding genetic diseases. For decades, researchers have suspected that when a human cell responds to a stimulus, DNA elements that lie far apart in the genome quickly find one another, forming loops along the chromosome.

By rearranging these DNA elements in space, the cell is able to change which genes are active. In 2014, the same team of scientists showed it was possible to map these loops. However, the first maps were static, without the ability to watch the loops change. It was unclear whether, in the crowded space of the nucleus, DNA elements could find each other fast enough to control cellular responses.

“Before, we could make maps of how the genome folded when it was in a particular state, but the problem with a static picture is that if nothing ever changes, it is hard to figure out how things work,” said Suhas Rao, a medical student at Stanford University. “Our …read more