Welcome to the GEDD Focus Group
In the Spotlight:
Robert Tjian to Receive Honorary Degree:
Dr. Robert Tjian of UC Berkeley, will be awarded an honorary doctorate degree from MSU and deliver the commencement address at the Kellogg Center on December 10, 2009.
Dr. Tjian is a distinguished biochemist at the University of California, Berkeley, and President of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI).
GEDD News:
GEDD Award Celebration:
GEDD held its tenth anniversary celebration to honor participants new and old on Friday, September 18th, 2009 in the Board Room of the Hannah Administration Building.
View photos of the celebration here.
GEDD Celebrates 10 Years:
The GEDD Initiative, was established on 1999 by a group of eight MSU faculty members interested in gene expression. The 20 laboratory groups currently participating are inviting people to celebrate the tenth anniversary and honor participants new and old at 2 p.m. Friday, September 18th in the Board Room, Hannah Administration Building.
GEDD Recruiting Fellowships:
The MSU GEDD Initiative awards prestigious GEDD Recruiting Fellowships to select incoming Ph.D. students who are interested in interdisciplinary training in the broad area of gene regulation. Students may indicate their interest in GEDD research programs in their personal statements; awardees will be selected from applicants to these graduate programs:
- Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
- Cell and Molecular Biology
- Chemical Engineering and Materials Science
- Genetics
- Microbiology & Molecular Genetics
- Plant Biology
- Quantitative Biology
What is Transcription?
Transcription is the process by which the enzyme RNA polymerase makes copies of genes
in the form of RNA, allowing the information encoded in the DNA to be "expressed". Transcription is a highly regulated process,
representing the initial control of the flow of genetic information.
Transcriptional regulation underlies much of development, physiological responses, and cancer. The mechanisms by which RNA polymerase activity is controlled is a central concern of biological research today.
Transcription is controlled by proximal and distal regulatory sequences in the DNA which recruit transcription factors to a gene. Basal transcription factors are thought to participate in the transcription of most genes, while regulatory factors control transcription in a promoter-specific fashion.
→ Read more about transcription, and who is studying it at Michigan State University.
