Triggering Transcription: Seemingly Inactive Genes are On, but 'Stuck in Neutral'
This article was originally published in Start Up
Executive Summary
Interest in gene regulatory networks is white hot, encompassing topics as wide ranging as reprogramming skin cells to give them characteristics of embryonic stem cells to the successful development of HDAC inhibitors. Now a research team has shown that many important regulatory genes in adult cells aren't switched off, as had been believed. They're primed to make protein, but something is stopping transcription--possibly a set of master signals that could be modulated with small molecules.
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