Genes in Drosophila centric heterochromatin

构成典型动物的不同组织都由许多不同的细胞类型组成；这些差异在很大程度上可以解释为细胞中蛋白质类型的差异。蛋白质是利用我们染色体中的遗传信息(DNA)来制造的，现代生物学的一个中心问题是了解如何如此精确地调节这种基因表达，以使胚胎发育或组织形成。 对果蝇等模式生物的研究为人类的发育和分化提供了许多重要的见解，因为所有活着的有机体似乎都有共同的特征。利用果蝇，我们拥有哺乳动物不可能使用的研究工具，这使得我们更容易理解基因在分化和胚胎发育过程中是如何控制的。 我们正在研究果蝇染色体中央区域(中心异染色质)的基因，因为这些区域似乎具有不同寻常的特性：驻留在中心异染色质中的基因功能良好，但任何位于染色体臂外的“正常”基因在进入同样的环境时都不能很好地发挥作用。我们的工作试图回答有关这些差异的基础的基本生物学问题。我们的发现可能对理解其他过程也有影响，包括染色体环境的差异如何影响人类的各种疾病状态和癌症。

The different tissues which make up a typical animal are all composed of many different cell types; these differences can be accounted for, in large part, by differences in the types of proteins in the cells. Proteins are made using the genetic information (DNA) in our chromosomes, and a central problem in modern biology is to understand how this gene expression can be regulated so precisely, to allow an embryo to develop, or tissues to form. Work with model organisms like the fruit fly Drosophila has provided many important insights into human development and differentiation, because all living organisms appear to share common features. Using fruit flies, we have available research tools which are not possible with mammals, which make it easier to understand how genes are controlled during differentiation and embryo development. We are studying genes from the central regions of chromosomes of Drosophila (centric heterochromatin), because these regions appear to have unusual properties: genes resident in centric heterochromatin function well, but any "normal" genes further out in the chromosome arms aren't able to function well when moved into this same environment. Our work seeks to answer basic biological questions about the basis for these differences. Our findings may also have implications for understanding other processes, including how differences in chromosome environment can affect various human disease states and cancer.