Scientists studied chromatin -- DNA and proteins -- in the nucleus of our cells Scientists have discovered that chromatin in a cell is a solid, not a liquid January 11, 2021 Biochemists have helped answer a fundamental question that has lingered since the discovery of DNA: Is chromatin -- the complex package of DNA and proteins in the nucleus of our cells -- a solid or a liquid? Cell, a team co-led by Jeffrey Hansen, a Colorado State University biochemist and molecular biologist, found that chromatin behaves as a solid or gel rather than a liquid. Hansen's team collaborated with University of Alberta oncologist Michael Hendzel on the study.