Bagpipers
24 May 2023
17:30
"The mystery of the three-dimensional organization of the genome"
ATCG are the DNA chemical letters that when assembled together form a helix. The human genome is made of 3 billion DNA letters, that if stretched end to end, measure 2-meters long. Shockingly, our 2-meter long genome is packed in an area smaller than the tip of one hair! In this talk I will tell you about our work uncovering the mysteries of how our genetic material is packed into such a tiny space. Our discoveries show that the 2-meter-long genome is organized in a 3-dimensional structure inside our cells! Please join us in this talk and dive into the secrets hidden within our own DNA.
Cynthia Perez Estrada
ScilifeLab/Karolinska Institutet
Senior researcher
My goal is to generate fundamental knowledge to regenerate the brain after aging, injury, or disease. For my Ph. D. at the Brundin lab at Karolinska Institute, I characterized the transcriptional and functional profile of adult neural stem cells during systemic neuro inflammation. As a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University at the Lieber lab, I investigated hybrid flexible-electronics innervated brain tissue. Our goal was to understand single cell computational first principles within brain circuits. At the Wu lab at Harvard medical school and the Aiden lab at Baylor college of Medicine, my work investigates how the 2 meter long human genome folds inside the microscopic nucleus within the cell, we then leverage this knowledge and apply it onto genome assembly. My work is multi-disciplinary, including genomics, molecular biology, bioinformatics, machine learning, super resolution microscopy and biophysical simulations. Ultimately, I'm passionate to contribute to the development of new therapies to stop brain degeneration.