Principal Investigator Gene-Wei Li
Life is made of floppy molecules that live on thermal fluctuations. Yet precise and quantitative behaviors emerge from these materials. Most of us have exactly 5 fingers on each hand. Even at the cellular level, the output of gene products and enzymatic pathways are tuned at a quantitative level. We are working toward deciphering the physical principles behind the precise control of transcription and translation. At the systems level, we are also interested in how these quantitative outputs from genes are optimally interconnected with the entire proteome and metabolome of a cell. Our approach combines technical development of quantitative tools, genomics analysis, and biophysical modeling. Our ultimate goal is to be able to predict and engineer precise protein production and cellular physiology.