Alexey Soshnev, a Ph.D. student in molecular and cellular biology from Russia, focuses on a fundamental question: How does the genome's organization affect its function?

"If you think of the genome as a book that is read by specialized molecular machinery, then genes are the 'words' and multiple regulatory elements are the 'punctuation,'" Soshnev said. "I am working on understanding how exactly this 'genome punctuation' works, combining the classic molecular, genetic, and biochemical approaches and novel genome-wide techniques such as deep sequencing and tiling arrays."

Soshnev said many human disorders are caused by improper "genome punctuation" so these studies may help design new therapeutic strategies.