Fractal Globules in DNA

Researchers have discovered how the DNA is packed into our cells in such a way that the roughly 2 meters of DNA in each cell doesn’t tangle, and is easily accessible when it’s needed to make proteins. And the key is: Fractal Geometry!

‘…Researchers found that the genome has a highly organized structure. Small pieces of DNA fold into globs, and those globs fold into larger globs and so on. The researchers report that this “globule of globules of globules” is fractal, meaning it is organized in such a way that it has the same pattern no matter how far you zoom in. This fractal shape is “super-dense, but has no knots,” ‘

Fractal folding keeps DNA organized in a cell's nucleus, despite the tight pack. Regions of DNA (shown in different colors) are clustered together. Credit: Leonid A. Mirny, Maxim Imakaev