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The Bartel lab was among those to report the existence of hundreds of tiny RNAs, known as microRNAs, which are thought to regulate gene expression in animal and plant cells. The lab employs biochemical, molecular, genetic, and computational approaches to identify additional microRNAs and determine their biological roles and the molecular mechanisms of their action. Among other findings, the researchers’ analyses indicate that well over one third of human genes are targets of microRNAs, and that microRNAs, either directly or indirectly, influence the vast majority of the mammalian genome.
Additionally, Bartel and his colleagues have investigated RNA's ability to catalyze reactions and studied how new RNA enzymes (ribozymes) emerge. The group has 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 have 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. Further work in this area may point toward the eventual synthesis of minimal forms of life based on RNA.
Among its work, the group also has designed a single RNA sequence that can fold into either of two ribozymes, raising the possibility that biological RNAs without structural or functional similarity might still share a common ancestry.
The Bartel group also made significant contributions in developing RNA interference, a powerful biochemical tool that works by blocking the delivery of genetic messages from DNA. Important advances for the new small interfering RNA technique, which extends RNAi to mammalian cells, began in Bartel's laboratory.
Bartel joined Whitehead Institute in 1994 as a Whitehead Fellow, following the completion of his PhD at Harvard University. In 1996 he was appointed an Associate Member of Whitehead and assistant professor of biology at MIT. Bartel is now a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator, a Member at Whitehead and professor at MIT.
Selected Publications
Farh, K, Grimson, A, Jan C., Lewis, B.P., Johnston, W.K., Lim, L.P., Burge C.B., Bartel, D.P (2005). The Widespread Impact of Mammalian MicroRNAs on mRNA Repression and Evolution. Science, Nov 24, 2005, early online edition.
Lewis, B.P., Burge, C.B., and Bartel, D.P. (2005). Conserved seed pairing, often flanked by adenosines, indicates that thousands of human genes are microRNA targets. Cell 120: 15-20.
Yekta, S., Shih, I-H., and Bartel, D.P. (2004). MicroRNA-directed cleavage of HOXB8 mRNA. Science, 304: 594-596. | 