Our lab studies a condition termed “Global Transcription Stress” or, shortly, GTS. It is characterised by a generally reduced rate of transcription, which is not restricted to any specific genetic locus or region. In the previous studies, we found that multiple situations can potentially lead to GTS. For example, DNA damage that triggers a chain of repair events typically results in a significant slow-down of the speed of RNA polymerase II, thus reducing the ability to create new transcripts. Moreover, certain chemotherapeutic drugs, such as those based on the natural compound Camptothecin, reduce the dynamics of the transcription process, leading to transcriptional insufficiency. Based on our observations, we suspect that GTS is integral to multiple physiological conditions and can be triggered by additional factors.
Studying GTS, we are asking many exciting and complex questions, some of which are detailed below:
First, we would like to uncover additional conditions that trigger GTS. When does it happen? How long it takes?
Second, we aim to understand how animal cells survive this condition. Based on the previous observations, we know that cells may survive prolonged periods of insufficient transcription. How do they survive when their ability to express genes is insufficient?
Third, we would like to gain a deep insight into how cells regulate their gene expression during GTS, both at the RNA and protein levels.
We address these and additional questions by combining biochemical, genomic and molecular approaches. We have already achieved a considerable understanding of the cellular GTS response (please see our Concepts and Publications) and are striving to further deepen our knowledge of this fascinating condition.
The Venue
Our lab is a part of the Technion, a highly-ranked Israeli university leading the development of novel technologies in multiple research areas. It was established in 1912, which makes it the oldest university in Israel. It has 19 academic departments, 60 research centres, and 12 affiliated teaching hospitals. Remarkably, three Technion scientists are Nobel Laureates – Professors Avram Hershko, Aaron Ciechanover and Dan Shechtman. Our lab is located outside the main campus, in the peaceful neighbourhood of Bat-Galim, just near the Mediterranean coast. The location is just great: the closest beach is within a 10-minute walk, and a train station connecting Haifa to multiple locations can be reached within 5 minutes. This makes us readily reachable by public transportation from the northern Israeli towns and cities close to the central part of Israel, such as Hadera, Netanya and Tel Aviv.
The vibrant city of Haifa is home to ethnic diversities that include Jews, Muslims, Christians, Baha’is, Druze, Bedouins and others. Many languages are spoken in this tolerant city, and multiple sorts of traditional foods can be found all over. The multicultural heritage is an integral part of this peaceful city.
What wise people would say...
Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.
- Sir Winston Churchill
Fortune favours the bold.
-Virgil
Everything is theoretically impossible, until it is done.
- R.A. Heinlein
Science never solves a problem without creating ten more.
- Bernard Show
Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
-Albert Einstein
Intelligence is the ability to adapt to change.
-Stephen Hawking
We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.
-Albert Einstein
The noblest pleasure is the joy of understanding.
- Leonardo da Vinci
Success is going from failure to failure without a loss of enthusiasm.
- Winston Churchill
It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data.
- Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.
-Leonardo Da Vinci
Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth.
- Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
The noblest pleasure is the joy of understanding.
-Leonardo da Vinci
People don't realize that not only can data be wrong in science, it can be misleading.
-Francis Crick
Art is never finished, only abandoned.
- Leonardo da Vinci
It is not at all true that the scientist goes after the truth. It goes after him. It is something he suffers from.
- Kierkegaard
....mistakes are essential for the process of science.
-H. F. Judson
"The Eighth Day of Creation”
Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.
- Carl Sagan
Science investigates; religion interprets. Science gives man knowledge, which is power; religion gives man wisdom, which is control. Science deals mainly with facts; religion deals mainly with values. The two are not rivals.
- Martin Luther King Jr.
“There are three stages in scientific discovery. First, people deny that it is true, then they deny that it is important; finally they credit the wrong person.”
- Bill Bryson,
"A Short History of Nearly Everything"
The scientist is not a person who gives the right answers, he's one who asks the right questions.
- Claude Levi-Strauss
The opposite of a correct statement is a false statement. But the opposite of a profound truth may well be another profound truth.”
― Niels Bohr
“An expert is a person who has made all the mistakes that can be made in a very narrow field.”
- Niels Bohr
It is the mark of a truly intelligent person to be moved by statistics.
- George Bernard Shaw
A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new.
- Albert Einstein
Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.
- George Bernard Shaw
Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen.
- Albert Einstein
I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious.
- Albert Einstein
The important thing is to not stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing.
- Albert Einstein
It’s not that I’m so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer.
- Albert Einstein
Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving.
- Albert Einstein
In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.
- Albert Einstein
A man should look for what is, and not for what he thinks should be.
- Albert Einstein
Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex… It takes a touch of genius – and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction.
- Albert Einstein
Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted.
- Albert Einstein
Few are those who see with their own eyes and feel with their own hearts.
- Albert Einstein
Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.
- Albert Einstein
Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth.
- Albert Einstein
You don’t learn to walk by following rules. You learn by doing and falling over.
– Richard Branson
Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.
– Benjamin Franklin
That’s been one of my mantras — focus and simplicity. Simple can be harder than complex; you have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple.”
– Steve Jobs
Whether you think you can or whether you think you can't, you're right.
- Henry Ford
The biggest risk is not taking any risk... In a world that's changing really quickly, the only strategy that is guaranteed to fail is not taking risks."
– Mark Zuckerberg
Physics is like sex: sure, it may give some practical results, but that's not why we do it.”
― Richard Feynman