# Characterizing and Understanding Variation in Gene Regulatory Mechanisms Within and Between Species'

> **NIH NIH R35** · UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO · 2021 · $513,942

## Abstract

A central challenge in modern genomics is to decipher how DNA sequence encodes regulatory information,
and how this is interpreted by trans-acting factors to produce cell type-specific programs of gene expression.
We propose to use a variety of approaches and model systems to elucidate the genomic mechanisms that
control spatially and temporally dynamic gene expression programs. To do so, we will use our recently
established panels of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) from humans and chimpanzee, which allow us to
perform dynamic and high-resolution studies of different gene regulatory phenotypes. We focus on
addressing three complementary questions that allow us to study gene regulation using different
perspectives: (i) Using evolutionary perspective, we ask what are the genetic and regulatory differences
between humans and non-human apes? (ii) Using population perspective, we ask how do genetic changes in
regulatory elements result in inter-individual differences in transcript and protein expression levels? (iii)
Finally, focusing on a fundamental property of gene regulation, which until recently we were unable to study
because of lack of suitable technology: We ask what is the genetic and mechanistic basis for the regulation of
gene expression noise and robustness?

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10166610
- **Project number:** 5R35GM131726-03
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO
- **Principal Investigator:** Yoav Gilad
- **Activity code:** R35 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $513,942
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-06-01 → 2024-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10166610

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10166610, Characterizing and Understanding Variation in Gene Regulatory Mechanisms Within and Between Species' (5R35GM131726-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10166610. Licensed CC0.

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