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Molecular and Genomic Imaging Center (MGIC) Summer Program for Undergraduate
Students
| Application Deadline: February 28, Annually |
Success Stories |
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Program Description
Overview
The Molecular and Genomic Imaging Center, a consortium of research groups at
Harvard, MIT, and Washington University, is looking for qualified undergraduate
students from underrepresented minority groups to participate in a 10 week summer
research program. In this program, students will perform research in the field
of genomics, working on a technology that promises to sequence human genomes
for hundreds or thousands of dollars. In addition to performing research, students
will also be exposed to journal clubs, seminars, workshops, and social activities.
Students will be paid a stipend of $4000 for 10 weeks of residence in the program.
Participating Laboratories
Four laboratories will be participating in the program. Two are located in
Boston, Massachusetts, and two are located in St. Louis, Missouri. Housing is
available in university dormitories (Harvard, MIT or Washington University),
with an expected cost of approximately $1000 for the full 10 weeks. For more
information about the labs, please visit their homepages:
Eligibility requirements:
The Molecular and Genomic Imaging Center is committed to training a biomedical
research work force that mirrors the diversity of our nation. We encourage applications
from individuals from groups that are traditionally underrepresented in biomedical
research. Biology or engineering majors will be given priority. Unfortunately,
students who have already earned a baccalaureate degree AND students who will
earn a baccalaureate degree in Spring before the program dates are NOT eligible
to apply for this program.
Application Instructions: Please send your CV, and two letters of recommendation
to Robi Mitra at the following address:
4444 Forest Park Avenue
Campus Box 8510
St. Louis, MO 63108
E-mail: rmitra@genetics.wustl.edu
If you would prefer to be placed in a particular laboratory (of the four listed
above), please indicated this in your application.
Research Opportunities
Church Lab: The mission of our group is to develop broadly distributed,
integrated models for biomedical & ecological systems. To make these systems-biology
models useful & accurate, we develop biotechnologies suitable for comprehensive
yet cost-effective systems measures & synthesis of designed biosystems.
In particular, we focus on replication of four systems - mammalian stem cells,
cell-cycle metabolism, microbial ecosystems (e.g. ocean circadian cycles &
biofilms), & "in vitro" mini-genomes. Each of these has advantages
for developing "systems analysis" tools & each represent existing
clinical or commercial practice ripe for improvements (e.g. respectively, stem
cell transplants, metabolic engineering, environmental bioremediation, &
molecular biology "kits").
Although in some ways broad & interdisciplinary, the integration of systems-analyses
& "-omics" technologies does represent a specialized discipline.
It requires a focused & dynamic tool-set & outlook. Examples of technologies
include proteomic mass spectrometry, microarrays (for whole -genome RNA, mutant
growth rates, & DNA-protein interactions), polymerase colony ("polony")
amplification (for RNA splicing, haplotyping, sequencing), & chemical synthesis
of genes & genomes. These are integrated with each other & with relevant
systems models. These models include metabolic optimization, clusters of transcription
factor motifs, & 3D (& with time 4D) models of genome folding &
replication.
Gottlieb Lab: Our lab's focus is embryonic stem (ES) and neural stem
(NS) cells. We are interested in how a network of transcription factors guides
development from the totipotent ES cell to a committed NS cell. We use a model
of mammalian neural development in which ES cells efficiently differentiate
into neural stem cells in cell culture. This model has 3 advantages: large cell
numbers, control over the cellular environment and genetic approaches based
on gene targeting. Thus biochemical, genetic and cell biological approaches
can be applied to the problem. One project is looking at the role of 3 transcription
factor genes ( Olig 1, 2, and 3 ) in specifying neural cell fate; we are studying
their transcriptional control and have identified their promoters and candidate
regulatory regions. A bioinformatics analysis in collaboration with Barak Cohen
reveals in all 3 genes novel, large, highly conserved non-genic sequences with
conservation extending from the human to chicken genomes. Another project focuses
on "cellular memory" the phenomenon in which stem cells divide continuously
but stay locked into a committed state. A third project (in collaboration with
Rob Mitra) is exploring PCR colony (polony) technology to profile gene expression
of stem cells at the single cell level. The lab maintains collaborations with
groups investigating ES cells in neural repair of spinal cord injury and stroke
and creates genetically engineered ES cells for these projects.
Mitra Lab: High-throughput DNA sequencing. Our ability to understand
the consequences of genetic variation is strongly correlated with our ability
to cost-effectively sequence DNA. By performing single-molecule amplification
followed by cycles of single-base extensions with fluorescently labeled bases,
we hope to dramatically reduce the cost of re-sequencing DNA.
Characterizing alternative splicing patterns in proteins that are the targets
of pharmaceuticals. Recent studies (e.g. from the Lee and Johnson labs) suggest
that alternative splicing occurs in 50-70% of all proteins in the human genome.
What is the pharmacological impact of this observation? Do different splice
forms interact in different ways with small molecule inhibitors and thus cause
variation in drug response? As a first step to answering these questions and
others like them, we are cataloguing variation in the mRNA splicing of genes
that encode the targets of common pharmaceuticals.
How does the cell read information encoded in different regulatory motifs and/or
chromatin structures and integrate them to produce a specific gene expression
pattern at a specific locus? Recent years have seen dramatic gains in our knowledge
of transcription networks. This has been due in part to new experimental technologies
(e.g. genome-wide expression analysis, CHIP-CHIP), as well as advances in computational
techniques to identify transcription factor binding sites. But, obtaining such
a comprehensive view of transcription has also raised many new questions (or,
in some cases, allowed us to more fully characterize old ones): Why do so many
transcription factor binding sites appear inactive? How do TF binding sites
interact to modulate transcriptional patterns? How much of a gene's expression
is determined by nearby regulatory elements and how much is determined by the
local state of the chromatin? How does genetic variation influence expression
patterns of genes and through what mechanisms does it do so? We are designing
experiments using the model organism S. cerevisiae that will help answer some
of these questions.
Principle Investigators (PI):
Helpful Links:
Last Updated: June 20, 2008
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