SEMINAR @ SISSA, SBP, dr. Di Bernardo - May 30, at 11.30 hrs.

[Barbara Corzani]

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STATISTICAL AND BIOLOGICAL PHYSICS SEMINAR
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Dott. Diego di Bernardo

(TIGEM-University of Naples “Federico II”)

 

Title:

“Reverse-engineering and modeling gene networks: from gene function to drug discovery”

 

Mon 30 May, 2011 @ 11.30 a.m.

 

SISSA – first floor – room 132
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One of the main aim of Systems Biology is inferring, or ‘reverse-engineering’, gene networks. This process 

can be defined as that of identifying gene interactions from experimental data through computational analysis.

We will show how we used these techniques to identify the function of disease genes and to identify "master regulators" of gene signatures. In addition, we will also present published results on a new method to elucidate the mode of action of drugs.

Conversely, Synthetic Biology allows ‘‘de novo’’ construction of a regulatory network to seed new functions in the cell. Synthetic biology aims to use such models to design unique biological ‘‘circuits’’ (synthetic networks) in the cell able to perform specific tasks (e.g., a "transcriptional clock" for periodic expression of a gene of interest) or to change a biological process in a desired way (e.g., modify metabolism to produce a specific compound of interest). In this framework, we will present our recent results on the construction of a mammalian transcriptional clock.