The art of painting chromosome loops.

Abstract

How to get a metre of DNA into a tiny space while preserving its functional characteristics? This question seems easy to pose, but the answer is far from being trivial. Facing this riddle, salvation came from technical improvements in microscopy and in situ hybridisation techniques applied to cytogenetics. Here, we would like to look into the past at one of these pure cytogenetics articles that makes a breakthrough in addressing this question in plant science. Our choice fell on the work published two decades ago by Fransz et al. (2002). Besides the elegant manner in which DNA probes were organised to bring into light the out-looping arrangement of interphase chromosomes in Arabidopsis thaliana nuclei, this article perfectly illustrates that painting is not reserved to the fine art. As for whether emotional expression prioritised by artists can sometimes hide behind scientific empirical evidence, there is only a small step to make to the general case.