• Question: if you opened the necleus what would you find there?

    Asked by chaitwad01 to Amelia on 15 Jun 2011.
    • Photo: Amelia Markey

      Amelia Markey answered on 15 Jun 2011:

      Really good question!

      So the nucleus is sometimes called the control centre of the cell as it houses all the cell’s genetic information. Two membranes enclose the nucleus and they have pores in them so things can be transported in and out. All of the cells DNA is found in the nucleus arranged into different chromsomes (we have 46 which are split into 23 pairs). The chromosomes are made of “supercoiled” DNA. This is DNA that is wrapped around and around itself to form a really compact structure and this is kept in place by proteins called histones. However, the chromosomes are only seen when the nucleus is dividing. The rest of the time the DNA is just a stringy mess called chromatin.

      Other than that the nucleus has lots of proteins, other types of nucleic acids like RNA, ribosomes, proteins to help keep the structure of the nucleus and to help it split the DNA when it divides.

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