Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 1, 2026

Quantitative Comparison of cis-Regulatory Element CRE Activities in Transgenic Drosophila melanogaster
Published on: December 19, 2011
Cis-regulatory variation: significance in biomedicine and evolution
Simon Friedensohn1, Ritwick Sawarkar
1Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering, ETH Zurich, Mattenstrasse 26, 4058, Basel, Switzerland.
Abstract:
Cis-regulatory regions (CRR) control gene expression and chromatin modifications. Genetic variation at CRR in individuals across a population contributes to phenotypic differences of biomedical relevance. This standing variation is important for personalized genomic medicine as well as for adaptive evolution and speciation. This review focuses on genetic variation at CRR, its influence on chromatin, gene expression, and ultimately disease phenotypes. In addition, we summarize our understanding of how this variation may contribute to evolution. Recent technological and computational advances have accelerated research in the direction of personalized medicine, combining strengths of molecular biology and genomics. This will pave new ways to understand how CRR variation affects phenotypes and chart out possible avenues of intervention.
Related Concept Videos
Cis-regulatory Sequences
Cis-regulatory Sequences
Gene Evolution - Fast or Slow?
In contrast, regions which code...
Regulation of Expression at Multiple Steps
Mutation, Gene Flow, and Genetic Drift
Regulation of Bacterial Virulence

