Animated cartoon that demonstrates how thermal fluctuations of lacO spots can be used to estimate metaphase chromatin stiffness (equipartition theorem). Here, lacO spots are shown in green, spindle poles are red, microtubules are gray, and kinetochores bind the microtubules to the springlike pericentromere, which is shown in light blue for a soft pericentromere and dark blue for a stiff centromere.
