Our Project
Transcription is the process of converting information stored in DNA to information stored in RNA. During this process, there is an amount of random variation in the rate of the conversion. We call this random variation ‘noise’.
Transcriptional noise is largely influenced by sequences of DNA called promoters that help “tell” the cell to begin the process of transcription. Our project is to assess how much transcriptional noise is expressed by different commonly used promoters.
To measure noise, we created GERALD:
To measure noise, we created GERALD:
Why do we care?
The less transcriptional noise a cell exhibits, the more reliably and predictably a cell can manufacture proteins or functional RNA. When scientists use cells to manufacture tools, it is important that these tools be both accurate and precise. Reliable cells manufacture products with precision, and reliability requires low levels of transcriptional noise. Alternatively, a researcher could require cells with a high level of transcriptional noise. Therefore it is important to be able to identify which promoters result in which levels of transcriptional noise.