The notion that topologically associating domains (TADs) are highly conserved across species is prevalent in the field of 3D genomics. However, what exactly is meant by ‘highly conserved’ and what are the actual comparative data that support this notion? To address these questions, we performed a historical review of the relevant literature and retraced numerous citation chains to reveal the primary data that were used as the basis for the widely accepted conclusion that TADs are highly conserved across evolution. A thorough review of the available evidence suggests the answer may be more complex than what is commonly presented.

中文翻译：

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TAD 怀疑论者：3D 基因组拓扑保守吗？

拓扑关联结构域 (TAD) 在物种间高度保守的观念在 3D 基因组学领域很普遍。然而，“高度保守”到底是什么意思？支持这一概念的实际比较数据是什么？为了解决这些问题，我们对相关文献进行了历史回顾，并追溯了大量的引用链，以揭示原始数据，这些数据被用作广泛接受的结论的基础，即 TAD 在进化过程中高度保守。对现有证据的彻底审查表明，答案可能比通常提出的更为复杂。