생물정보 및 유전체학(BIG) 연구실

We (BIGLab) have been exploring the mysterious hidden wonders of the genome "outback" (a.k.a, the non-coding genome) through both computational and experimental investigations. Recently, we have been developing an advanced BI framework to develop highly reliable and efficient genomic tools, as well as AI-based computational methods to analyze the functions of non-coding elements and design extended synthetic molecules that can be applied to engineering biology and high-throughput screening. Ultimately, my lab is aimed toward answering the following fundamental questions in biology. Armed with a strong background in experimental biology, computational biology, and machine learning, I have taken full advantage of high-throughput sequencing technologies to tackle the questions related to gene expression stated above. I am primarily interested in identifying novel regulatory non-coding elements that control gene expression, such as microRNAs (miRNAs) and long non-coding RNAs, and in understanding their mechanisms of action. To achieve these goals, I first reconstructed comprehensive, high-confidence coding and non-coding transcriptome maps in metazoa ranging from C. elegans to human. I next began actively collaborating with geneticists to identify functionally important segments in non-coding genes using a genome-editing approach, as well as with clinicians to search for regulatory non-coding elements and genomic variations that cause cancer development and progression. We aim to sequence and analyze whole transcriptomes using orthogonal RNA-seqs including general RNA-seqs, deepCAGEs, and 3P-seqs, to identify regulatory ncRNAs including miRNAs and lincRNAs in non-coding genomes, and to elucidate their regulatory roles for gene expressions and critical developmental processe