BIO John Lis

John Lis

Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Cornell University, Ithaca US  |  CV

John Lis has pioneered studies of transcription and post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression during Drosopohila development. The Lis Lab at Cornell University develops and uses many strategies to probe the structure of promoters and genes and the regulation of their activities in living cells. One of their models is the heat shock genes, a highly-regulated set of genes that are well-suited for the investigation of inducible mRNA production. They investigate the factors that participate in the heat shock gene induction response, determine when, where, and with whom the factors act during the process of gene activation, and evaluate the functional and structural consequences of rapid inactivation of these factors. The resulting information is critical in establishing molecular models for the various steps in the transcriptional activation of genes and coupled RNA processing events. Recent insights include the gemome-wide analysis of RNA pol II elongation and its interplay with promoter initiation and proximal pausing.

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