UC San Diego and San Diego Supercomputer Center researchers and their colleagues used a multidisciplinary mix of geometry, biological research, and supercomputer techniques to show how a gene is organized in three-dimensional space.

They used the immunoglobulin heavy chain locus–responsible for generating diverse kinds of antibodies–for the project.

While many gene and genome sequences are known, how the genome is organized in three-dimensional space isn’t. The regulation of gene expression is controlled by interactions of genomic elements that are separated by large distances; knowning how the genome is structured within the nucleus will provide insight on these interactions.

This knowledge could help with drug discovery and with finding out how physical interactions between parts of the genome affect health and disease. and .