A new DNA-mapping tool watches the genome fold inside real tissue

A genome is not a string — it folds, loops and touches itself in three dimensions, and those folds help decide which genes switch on. A team led by Professor Li Xiang at the Chinese Academy of Sciences has built SpaceA, a tool that maps those long-range contacts while preserving exactly where each cell sits in the tissue. Tested on nine mouse embryo sections across four stages of development — about 4 terabytes of data — it caught a dramatic genome reshuffle between days 12.5 and 13.5, and a distinct assembly pattern in the embryonic liver. Published in Developmental Cell, it gives biologists a map of development as it actually happens, in place.

SDG 9 · Industry, innovation and infrastructure — Mechanism: tech innovation