Abstract RNA polymerase II (Pol II) core promoters are specialized DNA sequences at
transcription start sites of protein-coding and non-coding genes that support the assembly of …

Regulation of biological processes typically incorporates mechanisms that initiate and
terminate the process and, where understood, these mechanisms often involve feedback …

Abstract “De novo” genes evolve from previously non-genic DNA. This strikes many of us as
remarkable, because it seems extraordinarily unlikely that random sequence would produce …

Gene expression is regulated by promoters, which initiate transcription, and enhancers,
which control their temporal and spatial activity. However, the discovery that mammalian …

Chromatin accessibility, a crucial component of genome regulation, has primarily been
studied in homogeneous and simple systems, such as isolated cell populations or early …

Numerous synthetic biology endeavors require well-tuned co-expression of functional
components for success. Classically, monodirectional promoters (MDPs) have been used for …

Promoters and enhancers are key cis-regulatory elements, but how they operate to generate
cell type-specific transcriptomes is not fully understood. We developed a simple and robust …

Most eukaryotic promoter regions are divergently transcribed. As the RNA polymerase II pre-
initiation complex (PIC) is intrinsically asymmetric and responsible for transcription in a …

Mammalian aging is characterized by the progressive loss of tissue function and increased
risk for disease. Accumulation of senescent cells in aging tissues partly contributes to this …

We measure transcriptional noise in yeast by analyzing chromatin structure and transcription
of an 18-kb region of DNA whose sequence was randomly generated. Nucleosomes fully …