Chromosomes and expression mechanisms Everything old is new again

摘要

Gene expression is arguably the most intensely studied process in biology. This is not surprising given its central role in all aspects of life. Chromosomes were among the first cellular structures to be discovered by cytologists in the mid-19th century. Recognition in the late 19th and early 20th centuries that these dynamic structures carried the blueprints of life, together with more recent molecular elucidation of how genes are organized and transcribed, has been the driving force behind much of modern genetics and molecular biology. Given the long history of chromosome biology and the incredible success of research into gene expression, one might expect that the big discoveries have been made and current research would be mostly filling in the gaps. Far from it!