A new experimental procedure developed by researchers at Yale School of Medicine could help scientists better understand how DNA structure influences disease and development.

DNA underpins nearly all cellular functions. Which genes a cell uses depends on the structure of DNA in the nucleus—shaped by both DNA’s three-dimensional (3D) folding and the chemical modifications to DNA and its associated proteins called epigenetic marks.

Understanding the relationship between the 3D genome and epigenetics has implications for DNA function and disease. However, most methods struggle to combine these two factors.