New AI model “IDLI” finds nucleosomes act as volume knobs for gene activity…
Scientific consensus shattered: Most “hidden” DNA is actually partially accessible…
Breakthrough opens door to “Precision Gene Tuning” for incurable diseases…
So DNA was basically running on volume knobs this whole time?
AI Discovery Reveals DNA Isn’t Locked Away in Cells After All
“Every cell in the human body squeezes over six feet of DNA into a miniscule speck invisible to the naked eye—like compressing a whole house into a single sugar cube. In order to fit in a cell and remain organized, DNA is carefully wrapped around spool-like protein clusters called nucleosomes.
For decades, the prevailing view held that DNA is coiled so tightly around a nucleosome that it’s basically locked away and the cell can’t access it. Scientists believed only unwrapped DNA could be active. Now, a study from Gladstone Institutes and the Arc Institute challenges that black-and-white view.
Using a new AI-powered computational method, scientists discovered that most nucleosomes contain sections of DNA that are partially accessible to the cell, rather than fully wound up and packed away. The findings, published in the journal Nature, point to a previously unrecognized way that cells control their genes.”