Epigenetics and non-coding RNAs
In complex organisms, the study of the processes that allow genetic information carried by DNA to be stored and decoded in time and space, in a context consisting for the most part of DNA that does not carry protein information (98% of the mammalian genome is non-coding), constitutes a new field of research with major issues in both basic science and applied research.
While we thought we had already gone very deep into the decoding of genetic material, thanks to the advancement of DNA and RNA sequencing technologies, we are once again facing new scientific, technological and ethical challenges to approach new codes related to epigenetic characteristics and non-coding RNAs, which will allow us to better understand the functioning of living organisms as well as the deregulation of genome expression in pathologies.
Indeed, these advances have made us realize that the simple decoding of the sequences of our genome would not be enough to understand (i) the differential behavior of the different tissues of the organisms, (ii) the cell adaptation to endogenous/exogenous stress, but also (iii) the pathologies associated with DNA damage (mutations). As such, epigenetics, a relatively recent scientific discipline that goes beyond genetics, consists of studying the way by which DNA is decoded in a stable and reversible way, considering not only the genomic sequences, but also additional codes consisting of chemical modifications of DNA and associated factors. Non-coding RNAs also play major roles in genome regulation, whether or not linked to epigenetics. Surprisingly, the "epigenetic" codes, which are not written in the sequence of the 4 bases present in the genomes, can be transmitted from one generation to another in certain living organisms and could pass an environmental footprint to the offspring.
Issues:
• How is genetic information decoded in different ways, beyond the DNA sequence, to give different phenotypes in different cells or different organisms (e.g., twins) with the same genotype? Concept of cellular identity.
• What is the contribution of non-coding RNAs to these processes?
• What is the impact of the environment on gene expression in the short, medium and long term? Notion of cellular memory.
• What is the implication of non-coding RNAs and epigenetic marks in pathologies as well as in the diagnostic and therapeutic potential?
Required level: Attended at least one biology module in year 2
Course language: English
ECTS credits: 4
- Teaching coordinator: Rougeulle Claire
- Teaching coordinator: Vagner Stéphan