previous studies on the fruitfly Drosophila have revealed that heterochromatin in a chromosome represses or silences genes that lie close to it. Heterochromatin is most commonly found at the centromere, the point of attachment on a chromosome during cell division when sister chromosomes are pulled apart. The activation and repression of genes determine the characteristics of an organism. Knowledge of gene activation and deactivation could, therefore, prove instrumental in detecing and redressing genetic abnormalities.

Recent research shows that this property of heterochromatin is based on its