Thomas
Kornberg,
Ph. D.
University of California, San Francisco
Toward a Comprehensive Assessment of Gene Expression during Development and Aging of Drosophila.
The availability of extensive genomic sequence, EST databases, and DNA chip technology opens unprecedented opportunities to precisely define the gene expression profiles of different types of cells. To wit, it is now possible to accurately compare mRNA populations expressed in different cells by hybridizing cell type-specific cDNA probes to appropriate DNA arrays. We are developing methods and resources to enable a comprehensive description of the repertoire and pattern of gene expression in Drosophila. These methods will make it possible to monitor the processes of development and aging in ways that are not currently possible with any other organism. Given the unanticipated degree to which so many of the signaling pathways, regulatory mechanisms and physiological processes are conserved between flies and humans, these studies promise to reveal much that will be relevant to humans.
