This is the first time that genome-wide screening has been conducted, identifying extensive 3D spatial networks of active genes involved in related physiological processes. This work at Babraham, an institute of the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), indicates that where and how genes are organised spatially within the nucleus, and how they get there, are important factors determining gene expression in specific tissues and developmental processes. The research was funded by BBSRC and MRC. The findings also help to explain how certain cancers occur. Numerous studies have shown that the organisation of the nucleus is one of the most obvious changes when cells become cancerous; cancers are frequently associated with a process called chromosomal translocation - this is where breaks in chromosomes then reattach incorrectly leading to a fusion between different genes. How this happened, considering the extensive distances between the genes involved, remained elusive until the transcription factory model was proposed. 

The impact that genome organisation has on susceptibilities to cancers like leukaemia, is being investigated by Dr Cameron Osborne, a Babraham Group Leader. Genes frequently found fused together in Burkitt lymphoma, a common blood cancer, have been shown to commute to the same transcription factory to be activated. It is while multiple genes are docked simultaneously at a factory that chromosomal translocations are believed to occur.  Dr Osborne explained, "A key aim is to see whether genes involved in translocations associated with specific cancers are preferentially found together at transcription factories. If so, this could represent a common and fundamental step in cancer development. Ultimately, these studies will have wide-ranging implications in human health and disease and may point the way to novel forms of treatment for cancer patients."

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