Your DNA is constantly moving—and it may explain cancer
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Your DNA is constantly moving—and it may explain cancer
DNA isn’t fixed—it’s constantly folding and shifting, and that motion could hold the key to understanding cancer.
Date:
March 31, 2026
Source:
Salk Institute
Summary:
Scientists have uncovered a surprising secret about our DNA: it’s not a static blueprint, but a constantly shifting, folding structure that helps control how genes turn on and off. Researchers at the Salk Institute found that different parts of the genome loop and unloop at different speeds, with more active regions constantly reshaping themselves to support gene activity.
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Our DNA is constantly reshaping itself, and that movement plays a key role in turning genes on and off. When this delicate folding process breaks down, it may help drive diseases like cancer. Credit: Shutterstock
How does DNA pack the enormous amount of information needed to build a human body? And what happens when that system breaks down? Research led by Jesse Dixon, MD, PhD, explores how DNA is arranged in three dimensions inside cells, revealing that problems with this structure can lead to cancer and developmental conditions, including autism-related disorders.
New findings from his lab show that the genome's 3D organization is not fixed. Instead, it is constantly shifting. By studying different human cell types, the researchers discovered that DNA repeatedly unfolds and refolds at varying speeds across the genome, directly affecting how genes are turned on or off.
The study, published in Nature Genetics and supported by federal grants and private funding, points to potential ways to target harmful folding patterns linked to disease.
"There are six billion base pairs in your genome, and in the last decade we've been learning about the molecular machines that fold and organize that massive amount of information," says Dixon, senior author of the study and associate professor and holder of the Helen McLoraine Developmental Chair at Salk. "What's interesting is that this folding doesn't just happen once and then the genome stays put -- it seems to be constantly unfolding and refolding. Our study gives us a better idea of where and how often the genome is doing this, which ultimately adds to our understanding of those molecular machines, and, in turn, what may be going on when they dysfunction during cancers or developmental disorders."
DNA Packaging: Loops, Proteins, and Organization
Each human cell contains about two meters of DNA, which carries the instructions needed to build proteins and control cellular processes. Within this long strand are tens of thousands of genes that guide how cells function.
To fit inside the tiny nucleus of a cell, DNA must be carefully organized. At the same time, it must remain flexible enough to allow certain genes to be accessed while others stay inactive. Cells achieve this balance by forming loops in the DNA. These loops are created by a protein complex called cohesin, working with another protein, NIPBL, which helps move cohesin along the DNA strand.
Scientists have recently learned that these loops are not permanent. They continuously form and break apart, raising new questions about how often this happens and whether some regions of DNA are more active than others.
DNA Motion and Gene Activity
"Current data around the spatial organization of the genome suggest that genome folding has little impact on gene expression -- but we thought, perhaps we just aren't looking at it in the right way," says first author Tessa Popay, PhD, a postdoctoral researcher in Dixon's lab. "By specifically disrupting folding dynamics, we were able to identify the aspects of spatial genome organization that contribute to gene regulation and expression."
To investigate this, the team reduced levels of NIPBL in human retinal pigment epithelial (RPE-1) cells. Without NIPBL, cohesin could not move effectively along DNA, preventing new loops from forming. As a result, the genome began to unfold, but not evenly. Some regions changed quickly, while others took hours.
The researchers noticed a clear pattern. More stable regions tended to contain inactive genes, while rapidly changing regions were linked to genes that were actively being used.
Cell Identity and the Role of Genome Dynamics
To see how these changes affect different cell types, the team studied heart cells and neurons created from human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). They found that dynamic DNA folding was especially important in regions tied to each cell's specific role. Genes critical for heart function behaved this way in heart cells, while neuron-related genes did the same in brain cells.
This suggests that the constant reshaping of DNA helps cells maintain their identity. In other words, the genome's movement may help a cell stay true to its function.
"One thing this appears to suggest is that the contin