Welcome to Biomed Bites, a weekly feature that introduces readers to some of Stanford’s most innovative researchers.
In cells, DNA doesn't make a lovely, languid helix as popularly depicted. It's scrunched up, bound with proteins that smoosh one meter of DNA into just one micrometer, a millionth of its size. DNA wound around proteins form a particle called a nucleosome.
Yahli Lorch, PhD, associate professor of structural biology, has studied nucleosomes since they were first discovered more than 20 years ago, as she mentions in the video above:
When I began working on the nucleosome, it was a largely neglected area since most people considered it just a packaging and nothing beyond that.
Since I discovered that it has a role and a very important role in the regulation of gene expression, the field has grown many fold and it’s one of the largest areas in biology now.
Many diseases have been linked to the packaging of DNA, including neurodegenerative diseases, autoimmune diseases and several types of cancer such as some pancreatic cancers. Enhancing the understanding of the basic biology of DNA folding is leading to new and improved treatments for these conditions, Lorch says.
Learn more about Stanford Medicine’s Biomedical Innovation Initiative and about other faculty leaders who are driving biomedical innovation here.
Previously: DNA origami: How our genomes fold, DNA architecture fascinates Stanford researcher — and dictates biological outcomes and More than shiny: Stanford's new sculpture by Alyson Shotz
