The Ultimate Pack Rat

Credit: Atreya Dey

How do you pack two meters of DNA into a micrometer? It’s not just an academic question: most cells in your body perform this miracle once or twice a day as they prepare to divide. When the process goes awry, chaos ensues, contributing to developmental disorders such as Down syndrome and various cancers. A new model from UT Austin chemists Dave Thirumalai, Atreya Dey and others shows how proteins called condensins pack chromosomes ahead of cell division. The finding could yield clues about preventing or treating many disorders.