When the protein production system is damaged due to infection with a virus Research under the auspices of the Louise and Nahum Berg Chair of Cancer Molecular Genetics at Tel Aviv University; an honorary doctorate degree from Tel Aviv University is awarded to Prof. Eric S. Lander, pioneers in theoretical and experimental research in molecular genetics
By: Esther Kozlovsky
Tel Aviv University establishes a chair for molecular genetics of cancer
For Louise and Nahum Berg. Prof. Gabriel Kaufman from the Faculty of Science
The Life of George S. Wise was appointed head of the department.
Cancer with all its syndromes is a disease of genetic instability
which is accelerating. Basic and clinical studies show that a sequence of
Genetic changes are what turn a healthy cell into a cancerous cell. at most
The cases involve the breaking of six different barriers.
Each of the cancerous changes originates from a mutation, that is, a chemical change
who was naturalized by DNA. A mutation in a given gene is a rare event in the life of a cell, every
For a sequence of six such events in a single cell and its progeny. The chance that sat
Normally such a sequence of events will occur during a lifetime that tends to zero. even though
Cancer is common.
The reason lies in another barrier whose breach in the cancer cell destabilizes it
the genome. To understand this, one must know how stability is maintained
The genome in the healthy cell. The cell has quality control measures that detect defects
in the DNA and correct them, or prevent their very appearance.
DNA quality control depends on a large number of factors and each of them can
to be affected by a mutation himself. In this case, the rate of mutations in the cell will increase
This will also increase the probability of the appearance of cancerous changes. diseases
Certain heredities, characterized by a tendency to early development
of malignancies, involving congenital damage to one of the quality control factors
The DNA.
Two areas of research in Prof. Kaufman's laboratory are related to the stability of the genome.
One relates to various basic aspects of DNA replication, and the other
Related to the cellular suicide plan.
The replication mechanism was previously studied mainly in bacterial systems. Prof.
Kaufman and his team were involved in later, more representative studies
Fidelity of the scene in the human cell.
Simultaneous polymerization (formation of a polymer sequence) of the two strands of the double helix
of DNA is an extremely complicated process. The asymmetric nature of DNA
dictates continuous polymerization of one strand and fragmented polymerization of the other.
The model was developed based on studies in bacterial systems, and in the laboratory of Prof.
Kaufman, changes were made to the model to fit cells of the upper systems, Mishmar
The baker to the man. According to the new model, the individual sections of
One of the strands themselves from smaller segments. This model was partially accepted
by researchers in the field and the other part is still a challenge in research
Current.
The proposed model was based on the discovery of an intermediate product in chain synthesis
The DNA, a product that distinguishes between the higher and the bacterial DNA replication.
This finding also led to the determination that this process does not rely on an enzyme from Palmer
A single DNA but whether on two or three.
For the purpose of examining the proposed model, a way to capture protein components was developed
of the replication system when they react with their unique DNA products.
Among other things, they learned from the results of such experiments to distinguish between strategy
The replication of the cell and that of the cancerous DNA virus, SV40, used as a model
Main for DNA replication in mammals and other organisms with a cell nucleus
(eukaryotes); This, due to its limited genetic content that makes it
Depends almost entirely on the components of the cellular replication system and also because it is easy
restore replication in vitro. Second, the replication of the virus is not subject to control
The strict quality that the cellular replication system obeys and this difference makes it possible
Distinguish between basic replication factors common to virus and cell and
Factors that distinguish the cellular system and are related to quality control.
The other topic that was investigated in Prof. Kaufman's laboratory is indirectly related
to the cellular suicide plan. This mechanism is commonly associated with creatures
Multicellular, however, true to the saying of his time, the chemistry of bacteria. for example,
Individual cells in the bacterial population may sacrifice themselves when they
infected with the virus, in order to prevent the spread of the virus in the population.
Prof. Kaufman discovered such strange behavior in bacterial cells. when you
These bacteria are infected with a virus and they damage the protein production system
their. In this way they may prevent the culture of the virus and thus they save
Other details in the population. But the virus has adapted to itself the ability
to repair the damaged bacterial component and ultimately utilize it for its needs.
Coincidence led this research in an unexpected direction. It turned out that a factor
Bacterial suicide hits a component similar to the one that the AIDS virus needed
for the purpose of duplicating it. These facts encouraged researchers to investigate the possibility
To develop anti-AIDS measures based on this principle.
Prof. Kaufman has a PhD in biochemistry from the Weizmann Institute of Science.
He was a senior researcher in the Department of Biochemistry at the Weizmann Institute of Science and in 1983
He joined the faculty of the Department of Biochemistry at Tel Aviv University and headed it
Between the years 1994 - 1997, on the side of post-doctoral training at the school
for medicine at Harvard University, he stayed as part of sabbatical years at the institutes
US National Institutes of Health and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Dr. Nachum Berg (initials Ben Ravno Gershom Ma'or Ghola) named after him
and the name of his wife Louise Croya the chair was born in Chisinau in 1911 and began the
He studied medicine at the University of Toulouse and completed it in Paris in 1934
In World War II he served as a doctor in the French resistance movement
"Resistance". Worked in many fields of medicine. After his retirement in 1976 he worked
In extensive voluntary activity in the fields of medicine and continued teaching
in medical bioethics. For all these he was awarded the French Legion of Honor
and with the badge of an officer of the French Legion of Honor. Published more than a hundred articles
scientific.
An honorary doctorate degree from Tel Aviv University is awarded to Prof.
Eric S. Lander, pioneers in theoretical and experimental research in genetics
molecular and genome research
Prof. Eric S. Lander, one of the leaders of theoretical and experimental research
In molecular genetics and mapping and determining the sequence of the genome, a degree will be awarded
Honorary Doctor of Tel Aviv University. The title will be awarded to him
As part of the meeting of the university's board of trustees.
Prof. Lander will give a scientific lecture as a guest of the Varda Institute and Shalom Yoran
for the genome research on Monday 22.5.2000/17/00 at XNUMX:XNUMX PM at the Faculty of Medicine
According to Sackler, Schlesack Hall. Lecture topic: genes and genomes.
Prof. Lander directs the Whitehead Institute at the MIT Center for Genome Research and serves
Professor in the Department of Biology at MIT and consultant in medical genetics at home
Massachusetts General Hospital. Born in 1957, graduated with a bachelor's degree
in mathematics at Princeton University and a doctorate in mathematics at the University
Oxford, UK in 1981
In the years 1981 - 1990 he taught courses in mathematics at Harvard University,
statistics and economics and developed new courses in negotiation processes,
Artificial intelligence and science-based business. At that time he studied
Molecular biology and genetics within research laboratories at Harvard and
MIT and also served as a visiting scientist at MIT
The variety of fields in which he specialized, starting with pure mathematics and applied mathematics
and genetics and molecular biology, combined with tremendous scientific ability
in the field of genome research. In the mid-80s, he moved from engaging in mathematical research
pure for research in the genetics of complex traits and began to lead the research
the theoretical and the practical in the new field. Deep understanding of how a feature is assembled
determined by alternate forms of multiple genes will become one
The main aspects of biology in the 21st century and Prof. Lander is
A pioneer in this field of research, a field that developed to a decisive extent thanks to his work
the theoretical and the experimental.
In 1990 he founded the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research within the MIT Center
for genome research. The center has become one of the main centers of innovation in genetics
molecular and in mapping and determining the sequence of the genome.
Prof. Lander made major contributions to genome research. together with his colleagues
Developed mathematical and computational tools necessary for constructing genomic maps.
Among the new methods invented by Lander is the Lander-Green algorithm
which enables the construction of dense genetic maps and the MAPMAKER, a computer program
used to build such genetic maps, both of humans and animals
trial.
Another development of his is the Lander-Waterman equation that describes matching between maps
Physics and continuum maps. These equations and other developments created
Following them are now used to plan genomic projects. Lander and his team
which included the genetic mapping method that relies on the phenomenon of
Linkage Disequilibrium, a method that allows accurate genetic mapping
most.
Prof. Lander was a partner in other genetic studies that were conducted
In human populations in which an ancestor has been found, for example, a population
Finland. Genetic analysis of such populations was used to identify and isolate the gene
, that damage to it causes disease. diastrophic dysplasia the gene for the disease
Encodes a carrier protein responsible for transferring sulfate and chloride molecules, and is
Has several alternative forms that cause the disease in different degrees of severity.
Additional genetic sites, which were isolated thanks to his theoretical work
and the experimental and through the innovative genomic tools he developed, including
Genes in mice in which genetic mutations occurred, and by identifying them
It was possible to learn about developmental processes in mammals.
The Center for Genome Research at MIT also contributed to the construction of the genetic maps
and the physics of the human genome; In determining the order of the gardens on maps
goddess; In preparing the first human map of minor sequence variations (SNP)
); In the construction of the genetic and physical maps of a mouse and the genetic map of
rat. Lander and his colleagues also contributed to the first genetic map of a plant
Arabidopsis in 1988 and of a fish known as Zebra Fish
In 1992, these two organisms are central models for genetic-molecular research.
Lander was a pioneer in developing tools and approaches for understanding complex properties. He built a probabilistic mathematical framework for genetic mapping of Quantitative Trait Loci QTL) and a mathematical approach that connected parametric and non-parametric relationships in one unified network, and implemented it in the GENEHUNTER software package. This software package is used to locate genes that cause complex diseases in humans. Lander's lab and other labs have used these tools for many studies, including scanning quantitative trait loci (QTL) in tomatoes and corn and mapping a tumor suppressor gene on chromosome no. 4 in the mouse.
The continuation of the research resulted in a rethinking of the way in which medicines
Anti-inflammatories, which are not steroidal, may affect the development of malignant tumors. Lander and colleagues performed the first analysis of quantitative trait loci affecting hypertension, diabetes and juvenile diabetes, breast cancer, asthma, and other complex traits.
Recently, Lander and his colleagues developed a new mapping technique called chromosome substitution strains. In this approach, a mouse strain is created in which one chromosome is heterologous, thus creating several different strains with their heterologous chromosome. The collection of these strains will make it possible to identify chromosomes that affect a certain trait, and these lines will soon be offered to the scientific community.
