Dr. Robert Singer was awarded a $1.3 million grant over four years by the National Institutes of Health to study the activity of individual genes, using state-of-the-art microscopy techniques that were pioneered in his laboratory. Using differently colored fluorescent probes that can bind to any gene of interest, Dr. Singer’s laboratory team will observe the rate and frequency of various steps in which the target gene is transcribed, or read, by the cell. The technology is sensitive enough to follow a single gene molecule, which will allow comparisons among different cells and an estimation of the variability in the process of gene transcription. This work will provide insights into the fundamental cellular processes involved in gene transcription, laying the groundwork for understanding what goes wrong in a variety of diseases that have a genetic, or hereditary, component. Dr. Singer is professor and co-chair of anatomy and structural biology, co-director of the Gruss Lipper Biophotonics Center and professor of neuroscience and of cell biology.
Posted on: Wednesday, December 14, 2011