Mission possible: how cohesin fits two meters of DNA into a human cell

Human cells fit extremely long DNA molecules into their microscopic nucleus. To do so, they need the help of a protein complex, cohesin, that acts like a molecular motor and actively folds DNA into loops. These loops influence how genes are expressed, with a host of effects on cellular physiology. Scientists at the Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP) now provided insight into the molecular mechanism through which cohesin acts to fold DNA. Their findings are now published in the journal Cell.