Research

The Boettiger lab aims to understand how long-range interactions between non-consecutive parts of the genome are regulated to control gene expression. Such interactions between cis-regulatory elements (such as enhancers and promoters) are essential for all developmentally regulated genes and lies at the core of cell differentiation. Differences in CRE activity and CRE interactions are likely responsible for much of the genetic variation between individuals in terms of both appearance and health, as the transcribed sequence of genes is highly conserved. While tools for identifying CREs and testing their behaviour in isolated context have increased in recent years, progress in understanding information flow between CREs and transcription elements (TEs) has been limited for want of tools to directly visualize interphase chromatin nano-structure, a lack of studies correlating structure and expression at single cell level and a lack of sufficient studies editing CREs to test their causal effects on 3D structure.

Molecular Mechanisms of 3D organization

Molecular Mechanisms of 3D organization

Computational modeling of chromatin structure and epigenome interaction

Computational modeling of feedback between epigenetic state and 3D chromatin structure

Tools for imaging transcriptional regulation

Tools for imaging transcriptional regulation

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