Abstract: Series 105, Lecture 6
The Harvey Lectures Series 105 (2009—2010)
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Lecture #6: Thursday, April 29, 2010 — Watch Video of Lecture
Following Single mRNA Molecules from Cradle to Grave
Robert H Singer, PhD
Professor and Co-Chair of Anatomy and Structural Biology
Co-Director of the Gruss Lipper Biophotonics Center
Professor of Cell Biology
Professor of Neuroscience
Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University
Bronx, New York
Over the last 25 years we have developed reagents and imaging technology to address the cellular distribution of mRNAs with high spatial and temporal resolution. This has culminated in the ability to detect single molecules of RNA within fixed and living cells of yeast, fibroblasts and neurons. This capability has provided insights into the dynamics of mRNA’s synthesis and the physical principles of its travels from its birthplace to its final destination, ultimately fulfilling its biological destiny by making proteins in the right place and at the right time. The picture that has emerged from these approaches is that gene expression comprises a series of stochastic events, which results in a highly organized and regulated system.