David Botstein, PhD

The rapid advance of technology for studying global responses of cellular metabolism as well as gene expression, both in populations and individual cells to perturbations in growth conditions has provided sensitive new tools for studying how cells respond and adapt to their environment. We are finding ways to perturb cells, while at the same time rigorously controlling the background environment. The idea is to introduce a defined perturbation, such as a pulse of additional nutrient, and observe (and ultimately predict) the global cellular responses, including gene expression patterns, metabolite concentrations and fluxes, entry and exit from the cell division cycle.