Category: Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics

Cancer connection

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Combining therapeutics with dietarychanges could prove effective against some forms of cancer. Continue Reading →

Of lava lamps and living cells

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Professor Clifford Brangwynne sees similarities between living cells and salad dressing, in which oil and vinegar separate according to the laws of physics. The idea has caught on. Continue Reading →

Princeton researcher bringing single-cell gene expression studies to a benchtop near you

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: Princeton researcher Britt Adamson, together with collaborators, developed improvements to high-throughput technologies that can be used to explore how cells respond to experimentally-induced changes in gene expression. Continue Reading →

Motion-capture technology assists in neuroscience studies

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A new technology can automatically track animals’ body parts in video to measure the behavior of animals. Continue Reading →

Danger avoidance can be genetically encoded for four generations

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Princeton University researchers have discovered that learned behaviors in worms of the species C. elegans can be inherited for multiple generations, transmitted from parent to progeny via eggs and sperm cells. The paper detailing this Continue Reading →

For infection-fighting cells, a guideline for expanding the troops

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T cells are like the special ops forces of the immune system, detecting and killing infected cells. When a new threat is detected, the cells ramp up from just a few sentry cells to a Continue Reading →

Finding meaning among the junk

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By Kevin McElwee Only about 10 percent of the human genome are actually genes. The other 90 percent? Once called “junk DNA,” researchers now know that this genetic material contains on-off switches that can activate Continue Reading →

Lights, camera, action – of genes in development

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By Yasemin Saplakoglu MOLECULAR BIOLOGIST MIKE LEVINE likes to recall his childhood when he talks about the reason he came to Princeton. “I grew up near Hollywood and I always loved movies as a kid, so Continue Reading →

Imaging system tracks brain activity of a freely moving worm

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TO EXPLORE HOW THE BRAIN controls behavior, researchers have for the first time captured the whole-brain activity of a freely moving animal, in this case a nematode worm called Caenorhabditis elegans. Using an imaging system Continue Reading →

Bioengineering: Unlocking the secrets of human health

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By Takim Williams RED-HOT RIVERS OF MOLTEN COPPER and aluminum alloys streamed from one receptacle to another. As an undergraduate watching the demonstration in a materials science class, Clifford Brangwynne was reminded of cells migrating Continue Reading →

Striking resemblance: A physical law may govern very different biological activities

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FLOCKS OF BIRDS FLY ACROSS THE SKY in shifting configurations. In the retina of an eye, millions of neurons ignite in ever-changing combinations, translating light into meaningful images. Yet both of these seemingly random behaviors Continue Reading →

Math and music spark student’s research interests

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WHILE PRINCETON SENIOR Alexander Iriza, of Astoria, New York, credits his parents for sparking his interest in math — his mother gave him math workbooks when he was a toddler — that was merely “a Continue Reading →

How to train your worm to explore the circuits involved in learning

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AS AN UNDERGRADUATE, Angelina Sylvain was fascinated to learn that devastating declines in cognition and muscle coordination could be caused by changes in a single gene — the cause of Huntington’s disease. She was intrigued Continue Reading →

David Botstein wins Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences

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The 2013 Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences was awarded to David Botstein, the Anthony B. Evnin ’62 Professor of Genomics. The $3 million prize acknowledges achievements in research aimed at “curing intractable diseases and extending Continue Reading →

Far from random, evolution follows a predictable pattern

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Evolution, often perceived as a series of random changes, might in fact be driven by a simple and repeated genetic solution to an environmental pressure, according to new research. “Is evolution predictable? To a surprising Continue Reading →