The art of DNA folding
How to stuff two meters of DNA into a nucleus
If packing a vacation’s worth of clothes into a small carry-on bag seems daunting, consider a cell’s task. Nearly every cell in the body carries 6 billion DNA base pairs. When stretched out, the DNA would extend about two meters. Cells must compress all that genetic material into a nucleus that measures only about 5 micrometers across. That’s like packing a thread the length of two football fields into a sphere no wider than the point of a pin.