Mechanistic modeling of chromatin folding to understand function

Experimental approaches have been applied to address questions in understanding three-dimensional chromatin organization and function. As datasets increase in size and complexity, it becomes a challenge to reach a mechanistic interpretation of experimental results. Polymer simulations and mechanistic modeling have been applied to explain experimental observations and their links to different aspects of genome function. Here we provide a guide for biologists, explaining different simulation approaches and the contexts in which they have been used.