Posted: May 24th, 2016

Review of DNA Dynamics

Point of information: In your average, typical, run-of-the mill chromosome, did you know that there is actually more protein than nucleic acid? That’s right. The proteins and nucleic acids are organized into molecular packages called nucleosomes. A nucleosome is a series of eight globular proteins, or globins, called histones. The arrangement of these proteins is therefore called a histone octomer. The DNA loops around the histone octomer.  Each looped sequence of DNA contains about 200 base pairs. The octomers are linked together by short lengths of DNA logically called linker DNA. And, if that is not messy enough, the linker DNA is attached to non-histone proteins, which form a background matrix called a scaffold.