Perspective (graphical)

Biology

Evolutionary biology

Computer science

Gene

Optics

Focus (optics)

Engineering

Function (biology)

Folding (DSP implementation)

Genetics

Chromatin

Computational biology

Artificial intelligence

Computational model

Genome

Data science

Electrical engineering

Physics

Nature Methods

Experimental approaches have been applied to address questions in understanding three-dimensional chromatin organization and function. As datasets increase in size and complexity, it becomes a challenge to reach a mechanistic interpretation of experimental results. Polymer simulations and mechanistic modeling have been applied to explain experimental observations and their links to different aspects of genome function. Here we provide a guide for biologists, explaining different simulation approaches and the contexts in which they have been used. This Perspective highlights recently developed computational models for studying chromosome organization, with a focus on how mechanistic modeling helps biologists to interpret the biological function behind the genome structures.

Mechanistic modeling of chromatin folding to understand function