We use the single-molecule technique called "DNA curtains" to study the dynamic behavior of DNA molecules and their interaction partners in real-time. DNA curtains allow us to directly visualize and quantify protein binding to DNA and protein transport along the DNA, and to track potential changes of the DNA conformation. Based on these readouts, we try to understand how different cellular proteins drive the partitioning of the genome into functionally distinct chromatin types and how this process is altered in disease.