The UT Dallas “tag and track” method not only sheds light on how DNA loops form, but also might be adapted to screen drugs for effectiveness against certain viruses that shuffle genetic material, such as HIV.

Until now, scientists primarily had “snapshots” of the initial and final stages of DNA loop formation, with only limited information about what happens during the intermediate steps.

"Scientists have known for more than 30 years that DNA looping is an important part of molecular biology and gene regulation, but until our work, there have been few serious attempts to understand the basic biophysics of the process, … We estimate that using fluorescence-based methods such as this for drug screening could be as much as 10,000 times more efficient than methods that are currently used," -Dr. Stephen Levene, professor of bioengineering, molecular and cell biology, and phyiscs at UT Dallas.