p281

Following the wind and not missing good opportunities is much wiser.

RNA Polymerase II seems to read where they can read without actively separating DNA from nucleosomes:

PolyII rectifies nucleosomal fluctuations

Hodges et al., Nucleosomal Fluctuations Govern the Transcription Dynamics of RNA Polymerase II

Science  325 626 (2009)

*An optical tweezers assay to follow individual Pol II complexes as they transcribe nucleosomal DNA. 

*The nucleosome behaves as a fluctuating barrier that locally increases pause density, slows pause recovery, and reduces the apparent pause-free velocity of Pol II. 

*The polymerase, rather than actively separating DNA from histones, functions instead as a ratchet that rectifies nucleosomal fluctuations.