Keeping Chromosomes From Cuddling Up

If chromosomes snuggle up too closely at the wrong times, the results can be genetic disaster. Now researchers have found the molecular machines in fruit flies that yank chromosomes, the DNA-carrying structures, apart when necessary. The machines, proteins called condensin II, separate chromosomes by twisting them into supercoils that kink up and therefore can no longer touch.

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Filed under: Biology on December 2nd, 2008