Borchert Lab

Great kids!!!

Six high school students spent part of their summer immersed in biomedical research at the Whiddon College of Medicine. Through the Borchert Lab’s summer research program, students from Alabama School of Mathematics and Science, UMS-Wright Preparatory School and Davidson High School gained hands-on experience with wet-lab and computational research while working alongside graduate student mentors. The program introduces advanced high school students to genomic and oncology research and gives them a firsthand look at what a career in science could look like. 🧬
Learn more: https://heyor.ca/Hykar2

Just posted a preprint of an article we currently have under review that describes a hitherto uncharacterized, conserved mode of gene coordination facilitated by DNA:DNA interaction.
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.03.11.711068v1

FragmentFinder—a user-friendly, Windows-based tool for identifying and characterizing short RNAs excised from any noncoding RNA Abstract. Noncoding RNAs

https://www.southalabama.edu/departments/ilc/facultyspotlight_borchert.html

https://thebusinessview.com/borchert-lab-research-at-usa-challenges-longstanding-view-of-gene-regulation/

Borchert lab research at USA challenges longstanding view of gene regulation MOBILE, Ala. – A groundbreaking study from researchers at the Frederick P. Whiddon College of Medicine could redefine how scientists understand the role of DNA in regulating genes. Published in the prestigious peer-reviewed journal Nucleic Acids Research, the study introduces a revolutionary conce...

The Borchert Lab has just published an article detailing the first-ever experimental demonstration that genomic enhancers target specific promoters through direct DNA:DNA interaction.

Long G4-rich enhancers target promoters via a G4 DNA-based mechanism Abstract. Several studies have now described instances where G-rich sequences in promoters and enhancers regulate gene expression through forming G-quadrup

Super proud of our ASMS team!

Borchert lab releases preprint detailing the first-ever experimental demonstration that genomic enhancers target specific promoters through direct DNA:DNA interaction.

Jeffrey D DeMeis, Justin T Roberts, Haley A Delcher, Noel L Godang, Alexander B Coley, Cana L Brown, Michael H Shaw, Sayema Naaz, Enas S Alsatari, Ayush Dahal, Shahem Y Alqudah, Kevin N Nguyen, Anita D Nguyen, Sunita S Paudel, Hong Dang, Wanda K O'Neal, Michael R Knowles, Dominika Houserova, Mark N Gillespie, Glen M Borchert. Long G4-rich enhancer physically interacts with EXOC3 promoter via a G4:G4 DNA-based mechanism. bioRxiv 2024.01.29.577212; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.01.29.577212

Long G4-rich enhancer physically interacts with EXOC3 promoter via a G4:G4 DNA-based mechanism Enhancers are genomic sequences that function as regulatory elements capable of increasing the transcription of a given gene often located at a considerable distance. The broadly accepted model of enhancer activation involves bringing an enhancer-bound activator protein complex into close spatial pr...

Dr. Glen Borchert was recently interviewed by the National Science Foundation regarding his current research efforts and what we can be doing to prepare for the next pandemic. This 30 minute podcast was published June 5.

https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/science-before-the-storm/episodes/Unlock-Your-Superpower-How-Looking-for-Four-Leaf-Clovers-Can-Reveal-the-Potential-of-Non-Coding-RNA-e23gcqc

Borchert Laboratory Awarded $800K NSF Grant.

Dr. Glen Borchert was one of 30 principal investigators invited to a National Science Foundation think tank last summer in Airlie, Virginia. While there, he teamed up with six other investigators with diverse and complementary expertise to study how we communicate with our microbiome. Each member of the group wrote an independent grant covering one aspect of their hypothesis, and Dr. Borchert's research proposal was just awarded $800,000 in funding to examine the role of extracellular RNA (exRNA) in communication between cells and shaping the community of microbes, especially bacteria, that live on and inside humans.