Discovery of the 'pioneer' that opens the genome

Our genome contains all the information necessary to form a complete human being. This information, encoded in the genome's DNA, stretches over one to two metres long but still manages to squeeze into a cell about 100 times smaller than a green pea. To do so, the genome has to be compacted.

Now a team led by Jacques Drouin, a researcher at the Montreal Clinical Research Institute (IRCM) and professor at Université de Montréal's Faculty of Medicine, has identified a key that can open up some parts of the compacted or closed genome. The discovery of this key, a pioneer factor, provides novel insight into mechanisms of genome access. The discovery was recently published in Nature Genetics. Like an archaeologist who unearths a long-buried civilization and reveals a whole new culture, this pioneer factor provides access to parts of the genome that were inaccessible due to its compacted state. Continue reading...

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