Differences in the expression level of a particular gene can be consequential. Interestingly, genetically identical cells in the same environment will express the same gene at different levels. There may be evolutionary reasons for this, insofar as having a variety of physiologies may ensure that some individuals in a physiologically diversified isogenic population are fit in an ever-changing environment. Yet, the way that genetically identical cells in the same environment come to express more or less of a gene remain mysterious.
Our lab employs methods first developed in bacteria and yeast to understand what processes occur differently inside individual genetically identical cells in the same environment. These methods allow scientists to attribute cell-to-cell and animal-to-animal variation in gene expression to distinct cellular processes. Researchers are able to determine how much cell-to-cell variation in the expression of a particular gene is due to differences in chance binding events, differences in sending signals through specific pathways, or general differences in the general ability to express genes into protein.
Our lab employs methods first developed in bacteria and yeast to understand what processes occur differently inside individual genetically identical cells in the same environment. These methods allow scientists to attribute cell-to-cell and animal-to-animal variation in gene expression to distinct cellular processes. Researchers are able to determine how much cell-to-cell variation in the expression of a particular gene is due to differences in chance binding events, differences in sending signals through specific pathways, or general differences in the general ability to express genes into protein.