Visualising the transcriptional pulses of defined genes in living cells

在正确的时间、正确的地点和正确的数量激活基因对于有机体的正确生长和发育、其在整个生命中的功能以及其对环境的反应能力是必要的。基因激活的缺陷会导致这些过程出错，从而导致从癌症到阿尔茨海默病等多种人类疾病。S.为了理解一个过程，能够在活体组织中观察它的发生非常有帮助，直到最近才有可能进行基因激活。我开发了一种新技术，使用显微镜，可以观察活细胞中基因的开启和关闭。我将研究基因激活的自然过程，以及细胞及其环境如何控制这一过程。然后，我将研究当主要控制因素被破坏时，基因激活过程是如何出错的，这是许多不同人类疾病的典型原因。

Activating a gene at the correct time, correct place and at the right quantity is necessary for the correct growth and development of an organism, its function throughout life, and its ability to respond to its environment. Defects in gene activation cause these processes to go wrong, resulting in a wide spectrum of human diseases, from cancer to Alzheimer?s. To understand a process, it helps greatly to be able to watch it happening in living tissue, which until recently has not been possible for gene activation. I have developed a new technique, using microscopy, allowing one to watch genes turning on and off in living cells. I will study the natural process of gene activation and how cells and their environment can control this. I will then look at how the process of gene activation goes wrong when the main controlling factors are disrupted, which is a typical cause of many different human diseases.