Unraveling the characteristics of functional long non-coding RNAs using serial cellular and molecular phenotyping

Technological advances have lead to the view that the human genome is more complex than anticipated and contains tens of thousands of genes that do not code for proteins. These genes, collectively referred to as long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), are starting to emerge as key components of diverse physiological processes. Still, the extend to which lncRNAs are functional remains a question of intense debate as only a small fraction have been studied experimentally. Whether these molecules are mainly transcriptional noise, or whether the majority is functional in certain conditions remains unclear at this point. In this project, we will apply a systematic approach to uncover the biological processes regulated by hundreds of individual lncRNAs in human cells under varying conditions. This wil reveal novel fundamental insights in the features that characterize functional lncRNAs and the development of predictive models to enable a better classification and prioritization of candidate lncRNA molecules for in depth experimental studies.