Tineke Lenstra to receive KNAW award for research into DNA regulation

Molecular biologist Tineke Lenstra of the Netherlands Cancer Institute will receive the Early Career Award awarded by the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (Koninklijke Nederlandse Academie van Wetenschappen; KNAW). Together with her lab, she investigates the way in which genes are regulated to explain the differences between individual cells.

These differences may be caused by the way the genetic information in a cell is read. The technology Lenstra developed for this ‘transcription research’ is especially innovative, according to the KNAW: she uses microscopy techniques to see how the genetic information is transcribed using living cells, including yeast as a model organism.

Her new technique allows her to view the regulatory protein molecules and the transcription of the genetic material at a molecular level. To research gene regulation, she combines her technique with genetic manipulations. The business world is following her technique with great interest.