Exploding chromosomes fuel research about evolution of genetic storage

University of Chicago physicist Riccardo Levi-Setti in his high-resolution scanning microprobe laboratory. Levi-Setti and his associates have used the microprobe to study the evolution of chromosomes in eukaryotic organisms. Eukaryotes, which include humans, mammals, and single-celled organisms called dinoflagellates, all pack their genetic material in a cellular nucleus. Eukaryotes may have evolved more than one way to pack large quantities of DNA into the smaller volume of a chromosome. Credit: Dan Dry