If the DNA in a single cell was stretched out, it would be about 6 feet long. To store DNA in an ordered way and to regulate access to it, it is coiled and wrapped in structures called nucleosomes, which are each made up of several proteins called histones. “We don’t need to read all of the DNA all of the time, just parts of it,” D’Arcy said. About MIRA Grants Unlike a traditional research grant, MIRA grants from the NIH offer investigators the flexibility to pursue a broader scientific question as it evolves, rather than being tied to one specific project. These new findings about the FACT protein give us a much better picture of FACT’s role in regulating access to DNA.