Hans RisGenome sequencing projects have provided rich troves of
information about stretches of DNA that regulate gene
expression, as well as how different genetic sequences
contribute to health and disease. But these studies misses a key
element of the genome—its spatial organization—which has long
been recognized as an important regulator of gene expression.
Regulatory elements often lie thousands of base pairs away from
their target genes, and recent technological advances are
allowing scientists to begin examining how distant chromosome
locations interact inside a nucleus. The creation and function
of 3-D genome organization, some say, is the next frontier of
genetics. Genome spatial organization is critical for gene
regulation, explained Job Dekker, a molecular geneticist at the
University of Massachusetts Medical School, and “everything else
chromosomes do involves three dimensions,” as well. Chromosomes
have to replicate, separate properly during division, and change
shape during the cell cycle—all with