MDC researcher Jan Philipp Junker and his collaborator Maria Colomé-Tatché at Helmholtz Center Munich have received a €200,000 grant to improve big data processing to better understand how gene networks are wired together during development and disease.
Scientists generally understand how stem cells transform into a specialized heart, brain or muscle cell. But now they want more specifics: the precise, step-by-step instructions that drive cell fate and function. Understanding the exact flow of genes turning on or off other genes, called “gene regulatory networks,” throughout the normal cell differentiation process could also help clarify what goes wrong in diseases such as cancer and heart disease.
Read the full press release at MDC.
Photo credit: © Pablo Castagnola/MDC