Science Visualized Microbes

Archaea microbes fold, twist and contort their DNA in extreme ways

The maneuvers could help these single-celled organisms get easy access to their genes

illustration of slinky structures in archaea dna

Archaeal DNA adopts the shape of an open Slinky-like structure (seen from two angles in these computer visualizations), which may make the microbes’ genetic material more accessible.

S. Bowerman et al/eLife 2021

By Emiliano Rodríguez Mega

- More than 2 years ago

Single-celled archaea microbes pack their DNA into flexible coils that expand and stretch much like a Slinky does.