A DNA Code that switches hundreds of thousands of genetic messages

Опубликовано 17 августа 2016, 21:21

What is the digital code stored in your genome that governs how your genes will be used to carry out diverse activities, such as wiring together neural networks? Under different cellular conditions, genes produce different genetic messages, or messenger RNAs (mRNAs). mRNA expression involves DNA transcription followed by splicing, which assembles each mRNA using carefully selected subsequences derived from DNA. Because of splicing, a gene can encode many different mRNAs, depending on cell type, age and disease; there are 22,000 human genes, but there are hundreds of thousands of different mRNAs produced by splicing. The genetic information that controls splicing on a genome-wide scale has remained a mystery for two decades. I'll describe how recently-developed technologies and algorithms have enabled researchers to assemble a DNA code that explains tissue-dependent mRNA regulation and makes accurate predictions. The seminar will be aimed at non-experts..