A 3D model of the X chromosome shows the chromosome looks less like the letter X and more like a plate of pasta
Here's your fun fact for the day: Contrary to popular belief, the X chromosome isn't shaped like an X at all—something that scientists have actually long been aware of. What they haven't known, however, is what that shape is ... until now.
Per a paper published in Nature, the first 3D model of the chromosome has been made using measurements taken of the X chromosome in mice, and it depicts what LiveScience likens to "amoebas" and "lumpy blobs"; the Christian Science Monitor prefers "a heap of threaded-up vermicelli."
The model, which is tinier than a red blood cell, provides a "map of how the chromosome folds, which parts touch and where, and who is next to who," explains paper author Peter Fraser.
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| This photo shows Human telomeres (the dots on the tips of the x-shaped chromosomes) (green) and centromeres (red) on metaphase chromosomes. The image was made using digital fluorescence microscopy.(Photo: Handout) |
Before sharing the implications of this, the Monitor gives some interesting history: The "X" designation started as a placeholder in 1890 ("X" as "unknown") and turned out to be a temporarily appropriate moniker:
In the instant before cells divide (high-school biology refresher: we're talking about mitosis), the splitting cell's soon-to-be-two-cells pull away from each other while attached at the middle, giving an X appearance. But only .01% of your cells are dividing at any given time; the rest of the time things are more blob-like, and the new model will help scientists better understand which of the X chromosome's 153 million base pairs actually sit next to each other in their pasta-like state.
Why this is a big deal: Scientists should be able to better study which of the many bundled-together regions of the chromosome are related to things like aging and disease.
Another discovery reported this week is more galactic—a surprising amount of water on Mars, reported Newser, a USA TODAY content partner providing general news, commentary and coverage from around the Web. Its content is produced independently of USA TODAY.
Courtesy: USAtoday
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