Francis Collins, MD, PhD, Director of NIH, recently wrote a blog post that spotlights calling cards technology being developed by the Dougherty and Mitra Labs. As Collins writes about calling cards in the post: “These comprehensive maps allow (researchers) to identify important DNA-protein binding events well after the fact. This innovative technology also enables scientists to attribute past molecular interactions with observable developmental outcomes in a way that isn’t otherwise possible.”
“While the Mitra and Dougherty labs continue to improve upon this technology, it’s already readily adaptable to answer many important questions about the brain and brain disorders,” he added. Collins noted that Allen Yen, a graduate student in the Dougherty Lab, is applying the technology to study neurodevelopment in mouse models of neuropsychiatric disorders, specifically autism spectrum disorder. Also, calling cards technology is available for any lab to use while studying a transcription factor of interest.