Institute for Systems Genetics
Associate Professor, Department of Cell Biology
Every cell in your body, from neurons to muscle fibers, holds the same genetic blueprint. Yet, they shape-shift into highly specialized roles, thanks to a selective process that turns on just a tiny fraction of your roughly 25,000 genes where and when they are needed. This precise tuning of gene expression is the secret behind how organs form, heal, and even adapt to change. But here’s the twist: while gene expression at the tissue level seems predictable and orderly, zoom in to the molecular level, and you’ll find chaos.
At the heart of this mystery is transcription—the first step in turning DNA into functional mRNA. It’s a process that’s tightly regulated but also wildly random. The transcription machinery, composed of dozens of proteins, hunts for specific DNA sequences of the genes it needs to turn on in the haystack of the genome. It’s a high-stakes search that leads to natural fluctuations in RNA production, which can ultimately determine a cell’s fate. The big question is: how do orderly patterns in gene expression emerge from such randomness?
Our quest to answer that has us peering into the vast, uncharted territories of DNA that don’t code for proteins. We believe these “non-coding” regions hold the key to selective gene expression and may help us unlock the power to regenerate tissues or fight diseases like cancer, where gene expression runs amok.
Our approach? A multidisciplinary fusion of cutting-edge fluorescent imaging, genomics, and computational biophysics to track and model gene expression in living cells. By watching individual mRNA molecules come to life, we aim to predict how the molecular noise of transcription leads to the beautifully orchestrated symphony of cell and tissue behavior.
646-754-2660
435 E 30th street, Science Building
8, 807
New York, NY 10016
Associate Professor, Department of Cell Biology at NYU Grossman School of Medicine
PhD from University of Paris
Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Lab of Robert H Singer
Nature communications. 2024 Aug 28; 15(1):7425
Current opinion in structural biology. 2024 Aug; 87:102873
bioRxiv.org : the preprint server for biology. 2024 Jul 16;
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Nature biotechnology. 2023 Aug; 41(8):1117-1129
EMBO reports. 2021 Nov 29; e53543