The process of gene expression in the cell is carried out by a series of "protein machines." The process starts with DNA transcription (reading the "blueprint" for a protein on a particular gene) and carries through to production of that protein by ribosomes in the cytoplasm.

The stepwise production of a protein begins with an RNA copy of the DNA blueprint. This RNA cannot be translated into protein by the cells until certain stretches of information which are not required to make the protein are cut or "spliced" out of it.

Splicing is performed by a protein machine termed the "spliceosome", a complex of more than 50 proteins acting together to catalyse this multi-step reaction. One of our main research goals is to shed further light on the organisation of this structure and its regulation within the cell nucleus. Until we understand how it functions normally, we cannot understand what has gone wrong in disease states which affect this particular cellular process.