In a study led by Professor Daniel Panne and Dr Benjamin Rowland, it has been discovered that the X chromosome gets its shape from shugosin “locking” the chromosomes into X shapes, solving one of life’s greatest mysteries.
Scientists in Britain have finally solved one of the greatest mysteries of life: how chromosomes get their X shape. Chromosomes, discovered in the late 1800s, are DNA molecules which contain the genetic material of an organism.
All chromosomes, without exception, either go through or end up with an X shape before the cells of an organism divide.
But it was always a mystery how they are X-shaped. While Biology students across the world study that chromosomes get their shape during cell division, the exact reason behind their X shape was not known.
It has been discovered that a protein called shugosin “locks” the chromosomes into X shapes. Shugosins are defined as evolutionary conserved proteins with specific functions to ensure stability of respective chromosomes during the cell division.
The life-defining breakthrough, with an obvious potential to be added in Biology textbooks worldwide, came in a study led by Professor Daniel Panne, of the University of Leicester, and Dr Benjamin Rowland, of the Netherlands Cancer Institute.
The two Japanese reproductive biologists, Katsuhiko Hayashi and Mitinori Saitou, are attempting to make egg cells without human ovaries.
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