Scientists at the BBSRC-funded Babraham Institute, working with the University of Cambridge and the Weizmann Institute, have produced beautiful 3D models that more accurately show their complex shape and the way DNA within them folds up.
The X-shape, often used to describe chromosomes, is only a snapshot of their complexity.
Dr Peter Fraser of the Babraham Institute explains: “The image of a chromosome, an X-shaped blob of DNA, is familiar to many but this microscopic portrait of a chromosome actually shows a structure that occurs only transiently in cells — at a point when they are just about to divide.”
Read the full, original story here: ‘X-Shape’ Not True Picture of Chromosome Structure, New Imaging Technique Reveals