Prof. David Bartel

The Bartel lab studies study small RNAs that regulate gene expression. Our main focus is on microRNAs (miRNAs), which are ~22-nt RNAs that specify gene repression by base-pairing to messages of protein-coding genes. Our lab is uncovering both the widespread influence of miRNAs on metazoan gene expression and the roles that miRNAs play during growth and development of plants and animals. For example, our work indicates that more than half of human protein-coding genes are conserved regulatory targets of miRNAs and that the miRNA regulation of one of these genes is important for preventing human cancers.

In earlier work, Bartel and his colleagues investigated RNA's ability to catalyze reactions and studied how new RNA enzymes (ribozymes) emerge. The group created new ribozymes with enzymatic activities thought to have been required early in evolution, before the emergence of enzymes made of protein. For example, the researchers generated a ribozyme that synthesizes small pieces of RNA, supporting the idea of an "RNA world" during the early evolution of life that featured RNA self-replication.