<p><strong>Studying Single mRNA Molecules from Cradle to Grave<br /></strong>We seek to understand the expression and movement of mRNA from transcription through degradation and the effect that defects in these processes have on health. We develop methods to label RNA in fixed and living cells using fluorescent probes and develop microscopy techniques and image analysis algorithms to visualize and quantify many mRNAs simultaneously. Using these technologies, we can observe single mRNAs localizing to cytoplasmic compartments such as the leading edge of a fibroblast, the bud tip of yeast or the axonal process of neurons and follow these single mRNAs from transcription, nuclear export through translation and degradation. Because these techniques yield quantitative fluorescence data, we are able to apply mathematical modeling to test mechanistic hypotheses.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.ibiology.org/biophysics/rna-localization/&quot; target="_blank" rel="noopener">RNA Localization: Following Single mRNAs from Birth to Death in Living Cells</a></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.6pt;"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt;">Dr. Singer is a leader in the field of biophotonics, which enables scientists to observe activities within living cells at the molecular level, and in the study of mRNA, a molecule that controls the expression and positioning of proteins within cells. Dr. Singer, who was called a &ldquo;pioneer&rdquo; by&nbsp;<em>Science</em>&nbsp;magazine, leads a robust lab that focuses on how RNA is expressed by the genome and how it travels from the site of its birth to its ultimate location in the cell where it makes proteins.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.6pt;"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt;">Dr. Singer made his mark with the development of fluorescent in-situ hybridization (FISH), a widely used research tool for studying the activity of genes and their messages at the tissue level. More recently, he has improved the technique so that scientists, for the first time, can observe single molecules, such as mRNA, in single cells in real time, providing new understandings of how cells live and die.&nbsp;</span></p>

<p><a href="http://www.einstein.yu.edu/labs/robert-singer/publications/">Click this link to view the Singer Lab Publications</a></p>