Abstract: Eukaryotic gene expression is extensively regulated at the RNA level. We investigate the roles of the transcribed non-coding part of the genome in normal development and disease. Our approaches range from molecular biology, various 'omics' techniques, and bioinformatics to cell and developmental biology and mammalian genetics. In my seminar, I will discuss the roles of alternative pre-mRNA splicing in orchestrating gene expression dynamics in the developing nervous system and will present our recent work on the biology of RNA-containing nuclear compartments.

Biography: Eugene Makeyev obtained his PhD degree at the University of Helsinki, Finland in 2001 and was subsequently a postdoc in Tom Maniatis's laboratory at Harvard University, USA. In 2008, he started his own group at the School of Biological Sciences, NTU, Singapore. He moved to the Centre for Developmental Neurobiology, KCL in 2013. Eugene's awards and recognitions include Helsinki Biocenter Prize for the Best PhD Thesis (2001), Helsinki University Docentship (2003), Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Career Development Award (2004), and Singapore National Research Foundation Fellowship (2008).