Chromosome organization in the nucleus – charting new territory across the Hi-Cs

For more than a century, developments in light microscopy drove forward our understanding of how chromosomes are organized in the cell nucleus. Now, derivatives of the chromosome conformation capture (3C) technique have harnessed the power of molecular biology to provide more genome-wide perspectives on the spatial relationships of DNA sequences, both within and between chromosomes. Here we consider what new insights into chromosome territory organization and mechanisms of gene regulation these innovative tools are providing, and the extent to which the visual and the molecular approaches give consistent or differing views of chromosome territory organization.