The interview with the head of the laboratory was published on the PCR news portal

M.Y. Shkurnikov spoke about the current projects of the laboratory and his vision of research development in the field of microfluidic technologies

The main research direction of the laboratory is the creation of a platform for the study of aging based on the co-culture of cellular models of organs and tissues in microfluidic chips. Particular emphasis is placed on the contribution of low intensity inflammatory responses to the ageing process. Development of all stages, including chip construction, is being carried out by faculty members.

Another project in the lab is the study of microRNA isoforms. MicroRNAs regulate the expression of most protein genes through complementary interactions with mRNAs. MicroRNA isoforms usually differ from the ‘canonical’ form by only a few nucleotides, but this can lead to very significant changes in the spectrum of their mRNA targets. The laboratory has shown the important role of microRNA isoforms in carcinogenesis, and research in this direction continues.

M.Y. Shkurnikov advised the novice scientists not to get too carried away by bioinformatics work only, but to study biological processes behind the analysed data and to learn to understand well the methods of ‘wet’ biology.

See the full interview here.