Peter Brodersen

Peter Brodersen, who is a plant molecular biologist says: “Cells in plants and animals have very different functions. Nonetheless, all of the cells within the same organism contain the same genes. The cells acquire these different properties because distinct sets of genes are active in them. When a gene is active, it is first copied into so-called mRNA that is the direct template for subsequent protein synthesis. mRNA can be chemically modified, and such modifications have a crucial impact on mRNA function as templates for protein synthesis. This modification-system is deeply conserved: the same enzyme modifies mRNA in plants and animals, and the same factors read the modification code. In this project, we will find out how these deeply conserved readers of RNA modifications work: how they help cells grow, divide and mature, and how their regulatory functions relate to other systems of mRNA control.”