Scientists have just found tens of thousands of tiny, hidden "knots" in our DNA, and these knots might be controlling how our genes work. This exciting discovery could even open the door to new treatments for diseases like cancer!

DNA is the code that makes us who we are. It’s like a set of instructions written with four chemical letters: A, T, G, and C. Normally, these letters pair up in a specific way—A with T, and G with C—to form a ladder-like structure. But sometimes, things don’t go as expected. Instead of G and C pairing up as usual, two C’s can latch onto each other. When this happens, the DNA twists up, forming what scientists call an "i-motif," a strange knot-like structure. 

Back in 2018, researchers first spotted these i-motifs in human cells, but they weren’t sure exactly what they did. Now, scientists have found over 50,000 of these knots scattered throughout the human genome. And here's the big deal—they seem to play a role in controlling when certain gen...