In News: Using a novel method, a group of researchers from CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad (CCMB) and Tata Institute for Genetics and Society, Bengaluru (TIGS), have established a way of studying the nuclear matrix of the fruit fly ( Drosophila melanogaster) without removing the nucleus from the embryo.
Nuclear matrix
The nuclear matrix is like scaffolding (support).
Every cell that makes up an organism contains a copy of its genome.
This genome is packaged in special ways with the help of a structure known as the nuclear matrix.
The nuclear matrix gives an organisation and architecture to the nucleus.
The genome is in the nucleus, embedded and protected by the jelly-like nuclear matrix.
This is a dynamic material providing access for the regulation of different genes in different cells.
Studying the nuclear matrix is, therefore, very important to get a better picture of how precisely development progresses every time a new individual is born.
The new method treats the nuclei within the embryo itself, known as in situ nuclear matrix.