Mathematics enable scientists to understand organization within a cell’s nucleus

A clearer picture of how a cell is organized could help biologists learn how to reprogram a cell to halt cancer or other diseases.
 

Science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke’s third law said “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”

Indika Rajapakse, Ph.D., is a believer. The engineer and mathematician now finds himself a biologist. And he believes the beauty of blending these three disciplines is crucial to unraveling how cells work.

His latest development is a new mathematical technique to begin to understand how a cell’s nucleus is organized. The technique, which Rajapakse and collaborators tested on several types of cells, revealed what the researchers termed self-sustaining transcription clusters, a subset of proteins that play a key role in maintaining cell identity. 

They hope this understanding will expose vulnerabilities that can be targeted to reprogram a cell to stop cancer or other diseases.

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