The Elephant in the Room: The Curious Case of the Elephant Superpower | Adventures in Genomics

August 12, 2018

The clear majority of the Human Genome is non-coding. Although those billions of bases do not specifically encode genes, there are many hidden sequences whose job is to dial up and dial down the activity of genes. This is important, as these regulatory elements steer the activity required of our genes to shape different phenotypes. Dr. Christopher Gregg and his laboratory from the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, have an innovative and powerful approach to study this fascinating aspect of biology. Their approach consists in identifying and studying species that have evolved “superpowers” that protect them from developing diseases. In this last episode of Adventures in Genomics, Irene and Jacques traveled to Salt Lake City to talk to Dr. Gregg and learn more about his approach, with a focus on elephants, and their extraordinary ability of preventing cancer from developing in their massive number of cells. Links: The Gregg Lab: https://neuro.utah.edu/labs/gregg/Welcome.html The Schiffman Lab: https://uofuhealth.utah.edu/huntsman/labs/schiffman/ The University of Utah: https://www.utah.edu/ For more info on applications in cancer: https://www.illumina.com/areas-of-interest/cancer.html For more info on applications in other areas: https://www.illumina.com/ See all our Adventures in Genomics videos: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLKRu7cmBQlah8wHBByBXEO0dNW-xNvvX_ https://www.illumina.com/science/education/adventures-in-genomics.html Subscribe to the Illumina video channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxWMU29FF4kIG8YmQf6Zv0g View customer spotlight videos: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLKRu7cmBQlajfheLzgbI4S7xBn7IDbt79 View Illumina webinars: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLKRu7cmBQlahpXlnrrXlQw9itVJ8yHwUZ View Illumina product videos: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLKRu7cmBQlaj6YuZmkfxZcT9twqDgP2Xd View Illumina support videos: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLKRu7cmBQlajbm2KGsICWb-JOnusJfYvM

Share this article on