David Bartel

Biography

The Bartel lab was among those to report the existence of hundreds of tiny RNAs, known as microRNAs, which regulate the expression of protein-coding genes in animal and plant cells. Together with their colleagues, they then developed, for both plants and animals, the methodology needed to identify which genes each microRNA regulates. Among other findings, their analyses indicate that well over one third of human protein-coding genes are targets of microRNAs, and that microRNAs influence the expression or evolution of a large majority of the mammalian messenger RNAs. Their experiments focusing on particular microRNAs and targets made major contributions to the understanding of molecular consequences and biological roles of microRNA action, including how microRNAs play important roles in plant development and how the interaction between a human microRNA and one of its regulatory targets helps prevent human cancers. While searching for additional microRNAs, the Bartel lab discovered other types of small regulatory RNAs, including "heterochromatic" siRNAs, which direct DNA silencing. The Bartel group also made significant contributions in developing RNA interference, a powerful biochemical tool that works by blocking the delivery of genetic messages from DNA. Important advances for the small interfering RNA technique, which extends RNAi to mammalian cells, began in Bartel's laboratory.

Research Interest

Bartel and his colleagues investigated RNA's ability to catalyze reactions and studied how new RNA enzymes (ribozymes) emerge. The group created new ribozymes with enzymatic activities thought to have been required early in evolution, before the emergence of enzymes made of protein. For example, the researchers generated a ribozyme that synthesizes small pieces of RNA, supporting the idea of an "RNA world" during the early evolution of life that featured RNA self-replication.