What we knew in last 100 years about chromosomes has completely changed now with this new discovery. We had thought the nucleus is made up of tightly wrapped proteins called histones which form chromosomes. “New research shows that not only the the chromosomes contain 25,000 or more genes it contains also a mysterious structure scientists have found a sheet-like structure that occupies the 47% of the chromosome” (BEC Crew). For the last century, we thought the cell nucleus was made of complex DNA and histone proteins. The reason we did not know much about the cell nucleus is because the chromosomes were only visible during cell division that is during meiosis and mitosis, where the chromosomes are tightly packed to form supercoiled like structures which were visible under a microscope. …show more content…
This new method we are now able to see a 3d high-resolution structure of all 46 chromosomes. After observing the structure the scientist now knows that only between 53% and 70% of the chromosome has been occupied by chromatin, the rest of the chromosome is occupied by an invisible sheeth like structure.It's unclear what this structure is but scientists think that that the sheath structure keeps the sister chromatids separate so that no errors are made during cell division. “It is still unclear how this sheath made up of either a solid film or liquid film surrounding the chromosome” (BEC Crew) but scientists think these new findings will give us a better understanding of how certain birth defects are formed and also why cancer cells are