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Probing Genetic Interaction Networks in Yeast
Speaker:
Dr. Ping Ye
Postdoctoral Fellow
High Throughput Biology (HiT) Center
Department of Biomedical Engineering
Johns Hopkins University
Time: 2:00-3:00pm, Wednesday, October 24
Location: Room 610, New Life Science Building, Peking University
Abstract:
The understanding of biology at the system level demands the definition of pathways
and networks that interrelate all elements of the system and the characterization of
information flow among these elements overtime. High throughput technologies lead to
the measurements of thousands of genes and proteins. The challenge is to fits them
into functional pathways for deciphering novel gene functions relevant to human
diseases. Here we focus on one type of genetic interactions - synthetic lethality,
in which two mutations that are not individually lethal cause cell death when
combined. We develop computational and statistical methods to define the biological
relevance of genetic interactions based on network topology and prior biological
knowledge. Through jointly analyzing high-throughput genetic interaction and protein
interaction data in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, we reveal that synthetic lethal
interactions bridge parallel pathways. Pathway membership can be inferred from a
shared pattern of genetic interaction partners and quantified by a statistical
metric. Predictions on novel gene function have been experimentally validated
through phenotypic assays.
Biography:
Ping Ye is a computational biologist by training. She received B.Med. degree from
the Beijing Medical University in 1995, and M.S. degree in immunology from the
Institute of Virology, Chinese Academy of Preventive Medicine in 1998. As a Ph.D.
student at the University of Michigan with Dr. Denise Kirschner, she developed
mechanistic and predictive mathematical models for the characterization of thymic
function during HIV-1 infection and treatment. After graduating in 2003, Dr. Ye
began a postdoctoral fellowship with Dr. Joel Bader in the High Throughput Biology
Center and Department of Biomedical Engineering at the Johns Hopkins University. She
developed topological models and statistical methods to define functional pathways
in yeast based on genomic and proteomic data. In addition, she also contributed to
the construction of a synthetic yeast genome and the study of histone lysine
modifications. Dr. Ye will start her assistant professorship in the School of
Molecular Biosciences at Washington State University in July 2008. She plans to
adopt both computational and experimental approaches to decipher biological
networks, focusing on infectious diseases and tumorigenesis.
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