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FUNCTIONAL GENOMICS

Silencers in the spotlight

Nature Genetics volume 52, pages 244–245 (2020)Cite this article

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Efforts to systematically characterize silencers in animal genomes have been limited. Two studies in this issue of Nature Genetics bring silencers into the spotlight, identifying these elements genome wide in human and mouse cells, and providing insights into their function.

Gene regulatory elements control cellular transcriptional programs, thus enabling genes to be expressed at the right developmental times in response to appropriate environmental stimuli. Some types of regulatory elements, such as promoters, enhancers and insulators, have been a focus of active research over the past decade. In contrast, silencers, which were first identified more than 30 years ago1,2, have received less attention in recent years.

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Fig. 1: Transcriptional silencers in animal genomes.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. MRC London Institute of Medical Sciences, London, UK

    Monica Della Rosa & Mikhail Spivakov

  2. Institute of Clinical Sciences, Imperial College, London, UK

    Monica Della Rosa & Mikhail Spivakov

Authors
  1. Monica Della Rosa
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  2. Mikhail Spivakov
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Correspondence to Mikhail Spivakov.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Della Rosa, M., Spivakov, M. Silencers in the spotlight. Nat Genet 52, 244–245 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41588-020-0583-8

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