DNA replication is arguably the most crucial process at work in living cells. It is the
mechanism by which organisms pass their genetic information from one generation to the next and
life on Earth would be unthinkable without it. Despite the discovery of DNA structure in the
1950s the mechanism of its replication remains rather elusive.This work makes important
contributions to this line of research. In particular it addresses two key questions in the
area of DNA replication: which evolutionary forces drive the positioning of replication origins
in the chromosome and how is the spatial organization of replication factories achieved inside
the nucleus of a cell?.A cross-disciplinary approach uniting physics and biology is at the
heart of this research. Along with experimental support statistical physics theory produces
optimal origin positions and provides a model for replication fork assembly in yeast. Advances
made here can potentially further our understanding of disease mechanisms such as the abnormal
replication in cancer.
