Tracy L. Johnson | |
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Academic background | |
Alma mater | University of California, San Diego University of California, Berkeley California Institute of Technology |
Academic advisors | John Abelson |
Academic work | |
Institutions | University of California,Los Angeles (current) Howard Hughes Medical Institute University of California,San Diego (past) |
Main interests | Gene expression,RNA synthesis,and chromatin modification. |
Tracy L. Johnson is the Keith and Cecilia Terasaki Presidential Endowed Chair in the Life Sciences and Professor of Molecular,Cell,and Developmental Biology at the University of California,Los Angeles (UCLA). She is also a professor of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. In May 2020,she was named Dean of the UCLA Division of Life Sciences. [1]
Johnson's research focuses on understanding gene regulation,chromatin modification,RNA splicing and how regulating splicing allows cells to respond to their environment. [2] Specifically,her group studies the spliceosome,a macromolecular "machine" made of five subunits that interacts with a pre-messenger RNA to produce an edited version, [3] leading to appropriate translation into proteins. Her group has provided evidence that spliceosome assembly around a nascent mRNA transcript is regulated by histone modifications in the chromatin of the transcribed region. [4] [5]
Barber,P. H.,Hayes,T. B.,Johnson,T. L.,&Márquez-Magaña,L. (2020). Systemic racism in higher education. Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science),369(6510),1440–1441. [6]
Johnson earned her B.A. in biochemistry and cell biology from the University of California,San Diego and her Ph.D. in biochemistry and molecular biology from the department of molecular and cell biology at the University of California,Berkeley. [7] She was a Jane Coffin Childs postdoctoral fellow at the California Institute of Technology studying the mechanisms of RNA splicing with Dr. John Abelson. [7]
From 2003 to 2013,Johnson was a member of the University of California San Diego biological sciences faculty where she earned many awards,including the National Science Foundation (NSF) Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) and the UCSD Chancellor's Associates Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching. [7] Johnson joined the faculty of the University of California,Los Angeles in 2013 as the professor of molecular,cell,and developmental biology and holder of the Keith and Cecilia Terasaki Presidential Endowed Chair. [1] In 2014,she was named a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Professor, [7] and became the associate dean for inclusive excellence in the division of life sciences in 2015. [1] She was named dean of the UCLA Division of Life Sciences in 2020. [1]
Johnson has also focused on developing programs to create transformative learning experiences for undergraduates [8] including the UCLA-HHMI Pathways to Success Program. [9] The program is a comprehensive strategy to provide students with an authentic research experience early in their academic careers. [8] The program has three key components: (1) A research-based laboratory course,(2) a mentoring network that integrates peer and hierarchical mentoring,and (3) intensive learning communities. [8] Johnson is known for her work on diversity,equity and inclusion in STEM,and was awarded the UCLA Academic Senate Award for Career Commitment to Diversity,Equity and Inclusion and the UCLA Life Sciences Award for Inclusive Excellence through teaching,mentorship,service and research. [1]
A spliceosome is a large ribonucleoprotein (RNP) complex found primarily within the nucleus of eukaryotic cells. The spliceosome is assembled from small nuclear RNAs (snRNA) and numerous proteins. Small nuclear RNA (snRNA) molecules bind to specific proteins to form a small nuclear ribonucleoprotein complex,which in turn combines with other snRNPs to form a large ribonucleoprotein complex called a spliceosome. The spliceosome removes introns from a transcribed pre-mRNA,a type of primary transcript. This process is generally referred to as splicing. An analogy is a film editor,who selectively cuts out irrelevant or incorrect material from the initial film and sends the cleaned-up version to the director for the final cut.
Carlos JoséBustamante is a Peruvian-American scientist. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences.
A primary transcript is the single-stranded ribonucleic acid (RNA) product synthesized by transcription of DNA,and processed to yield various mature RNA products such as mRNAs,tRNAs,and rRNAs. The primary transcripts designated to be mRNAs are modified in preparation for translation. For example,a precursor mRNA (pre-mRNA) is a type of primary transcript that becomes a messenger RNA (mRNA) after processing.
Thomas Robert Cech is an American chemist who shared the 1989 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Sidney Altman,for their discovery of the catalytic properties of RNA. Cech discovered that RNA could itself cut strands of RNA,suggesting that life might have started as RNA. He found that RNA can not only transmit instructions,but also that it can speed up the necessary reactions.
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Sarah C.R. Elgin is an American biochemist and geneticist. She is the Viktor Hamburger Professor of biology at Washington University in St. Louis,and is noted for her work in epigenetics,gene regulation,and heterochromatin,and for her contributions to science education.
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