The 3D Nature of Your DNA

Your DNA is actually a shapeshifting 3D machine, not just a static list of letters.

It is wrapped up tight in this stuff called chromatin, and for a gene to actually work,

that structure has to physically unravel. We use crazy tech like ATAC-seq to map exactly where

your genome is open for business and where it is shut down. Here is the wildest

part: the switches that turn your genes on are often huge distances away, looping around in

3D space to make contact. It turns out the physical shape of your genome matters

just as much as the sequence itself.