Gladstone Institute of
Data Science and Biotechnology

Researchers discovered human accelerated regions (HARs), stretches of DNA that make us uniquely human and differentiate us from our primate ancestors. The team subsequently found that the vast majority of HARs—96 percent—are not genes. Instead, most are gene enhancers, which act like a dimmer switch for a lightbulb, turning gene activity up or down. They also found that HARs are partly responsible for controlling neuron growth and may guide genes involved in brain development, as well as psychiatric diseases that are uniquely human, such as autism and schizophrenia.

A team of Gladstone researchers perfected a technique called protein–protein interaction mapping that uses human cells in laboratory dishes to identify each point of contact between viral and human proteins. They then compared one virus’s map to another to find human proteins that are routinely targeted by several different viruses. The common human proteins—which could be considered the weak points of human biology—may be effective targets in treating many different viruses and other diseases. Thanks to this approach, they uncovered new potential approaches to combat tuberculosis infection, as well as the Ebola, Dengue, and Zika viruses, to name a few.

CRISPR is a tool that can remove, insert, or replace specific genes to make changes to DNA. The Cas9 protein is often used as the “scissors” that actually snip DNA in this gene-editing technique. A group of researchers redesigned the Cas9 protein, allowing scientists to keep it turned off in all cells except its designated target. This “on switch” enables users to activate CRISPR only in selected cells, making it an even more versatile and precise tool.

A group of researchers created new statistical models and bioinformatics tools to identify the genes and gene mutations that may be important to help microbes live successfully in the human gut. Their techniques could yield opportunities to predict if the microbiome will inactivate drugs given to a patient or prevent invasion of the gut by harmful pathogens like C. difficile. An important component of this work is developing open source software and web tools that allow other academics without the required in-house expertise to use these new computational techniques to analyze their own data.

To understand how a cell changes during development or disease, it is important to measure the sequence of decisions it makes, but most laboratory techniques destroy cells when molecular measurements are made. A group of researchers used genome editing to create technology that enables scientists to observe dynamic processes unfolding in living cells by recording data into the cell’s own DNA.