Ali Shilatifard Links Transcription Elongation Control to Disease and Aging at CSHL Leading Strand Talk

Ali Shilatifard discussed transcription elongation regulation at a CSHL Leading Strand lecture, arguing on the basis of 30 years of his laboratory's work that elongation control is central to gene expression and that its disruption can cause disease. He connected single-point mutations in the super elongation complex to neurodevelopmental disorders such as Coffin-Lowry syndrome, and noted elongation factors are also linked to cancer. In a session on aging, he discussed whether elongation factors can be targeted inside cells to counter senescence-related phenotypes.