Region Capture Micro-C

2023: Product Announcement

On May 8, 2023, American scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) announced the development of a new technology that allows analyzing the 3D interaction of sections of the genome with unprecedented accuracy. The method is expected to shed light on the origin and progression of genetic diseases, as well as help in creating advanced treatments.

The researchers say the bulk of the human genome consists of regulatory regions that control which genes are expressed at a particular point in time inside the cell. Such regulatory elements can be located near the target gene or at a distance of up to 2 million base pairs. To ensure interaction, a three-dimensional structure is used that allows you to bring remote areas closer together. Using the new technique, MIT staff showed they could map connections with a resolution 100 times higher than previously possible.

Region Capture Micro-C will shed light on the origin and progression of genetic diseases

The proposed method was called Region Capture Micro-C. The technology provides for the use of micrococcal nuclease - an enzyme capable of breaking the primary structure of nucleic acids, in particular, DNA in the areas between nucleosomes. This makes it possible to obtain small and similar fragments. Thus, researchers can focus on segments of the genome containing genes of interest. It is expected that the approach will provide an opportunity to obtain a large amount of new information about how segments of the genome interact with each other to control gene expression.

Now we have an affordable method of obtaining three-dimensional maps of the structure of the genome in ultra-high resolution. The only limitation is that you cannot get the entire genome, so you need to know roughly which area you are interested in, the authors of the work note.[1]

Notes