Prediction of Transcription Terminators in Prokaryotes

Artemis G. Hatzigeorgiou

Department of Genetics, University of Pennsylvania

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small RNAs, ~21 nucleotides in length, which regulate gene expression at the post-transcriptional level. MiRNAs were discovered only recently and are likely to underlie an array of inherited disease processes. During the talk I will describe the development of analytical methods and algorithms based on machine learning approaches that were applied to understand the biogenesis and function of these new groups of genes. These algorithms have been evaluated and further developed through experimental support. At the end of the talk I will also discuss phenotypic effects of Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) located in miRNA target sites and the role of editing for miRNAs expressed in brain.