Blog Post Image: In one of nature’s innovations, a single cell smashes and rebuilds its own genome

A study led by Princeton University researchers found that the pond-dwelling, single-celled organism Oxytricha trifallax (above) has the remarkable ability to break its own DNA into nearly a quarter-million pieces and rapidly reassemble those pieces when it’s time to mate. This elaborate process could provide a template for understanding how chromosomes in more complex animals such as humans break apart and reassemble, as can happen during the onset of cancer. (Image by John Bracht, American University, and Robert Hammersmith, Ball State University)