“Transposable elements and epigenome evolution” with Ting Wang, PhD

Transposable elements (TE) make up about half of our genome, yet they are understudied due to their repetitive nature and are called “junk DNA”. However, they are an abundant and rich genetic resource of regulatory sequences. Modern genomics provided us an opportunity to interrogate their contribution to genome and epigenome evolution. I will discuss advances made over the last decade in recognizing TE’s role in innovating gene regulatory networks, and more recent surprising findings illustrating how TEs provide genetic redundancy in maintaining 3D genome architecture, and how TE’s deregulation accelerate cancer epigenome evolution. This webinar is part of the Summer Omics Learning (SOL) Series presented by the Omics and Bioinformatics Core (OBIC) of our Michigan Lifestage Environmental Exposures and Disease (M-LEEaD) Center at the University of Michigan.