EP 152: Unlocking the secrets of gene regulation with Nadav Ahituv, Director of the Institute of Human Genetics at UCSF

The Genetics Podcast

01:15 - Introductions

02:02 - How our understanding of the non-coding genome has evolved throughout Nadav’s career

04:56 - Our current understanding of non-coding genome grammar

07:40 - Is there a missing piece to the common variant, common disease paradigm?

10:25 - Introducing ultraconserved elements (UCEs) and human accelerated regions (HARs)

12:50 - Can a simple code explain changes in certain regions of the genome? Does this require “messier” solutions, such as large language models?

14:25 - The potential of machine learning

16:56 - Using CRISPR and non-coding elements to treat haploinsufficiency-caused pediatric diseases

20:19 - Nadav’s experience of starting a company

24:44 - How CRISPR A minimizes the risks associated with traditional CRISPR editing

26:04 - How engineering fat cells can starve cancer

32:08 - What’s on the horizon for Nadav’s lab?

34:52 - Bats as unlikely “superheroes,”, and what we can learn from their glucose levels

38:43 - The genetic differences between archaic humans, like Neanderthals and Denisovans, and modern humans

40:33 - Closing remarks