WRN is an oligomer that can act as a monomer when unwinding DNA, but as a dimer in solution or a tetramer when complexed with DNA, and has also been observed in tetrameric and hexameric forms. The diffusion of WRN has been measured to 1.62 formula_1 in nucleoplasm and 0.12 formula_2 at nucleoli. Orthologs of WRN have been found in a number of other organisms, including "Drosophila", "Xenopus", and "C. elegans". WRN is important to genome stability, and cells with mutations to WRN are more susceptible to DNA damage and DNA breaks.