Rosenthal Lab

Joshua Rosenthal
Senior Scientist

Email Joshua Rosenthal
Phone: (508) 289-7253

Education:
Haverford College, B.A. Biology
Stanford University, Ph.D. Biology

Current Projects:
High level Recoding by RNA editing in Cephalopods
Site-Directed RNA Editing
Marine Model Organism Development
Structural and functional connectivity of squid chromatophores

Cephalopod Operations:
Bret Grasse, Manager
Taylor Sakmar, Cephalopod Culture Specialist
Miranda Vogt, Cephalopod Culture Operations Specialist

Job Opportunities:
Check back for updates!

Research Statement: The central dogma of biology is that genetic information passes faithfully from DNA to RNA before being decoded into proteins. This information can be manipulated at any stage. When done in DNA, the changes are irreversible. Organisms often alter information in RNA because it provides a flexible platform. They use diverse tools. One example is RNA editing through adenosine deamination, a process that occurs in all multicellular animals. Unlike alternative splicing, which shuffles relatively large regions of RNA, editing targets single bases. Catalyzed by the ADAR family of enzymes, specific adenosines are converted to inosine at precise positions within RNAs. Although inosine is not one of the four Watson-Crick bases, it is a biological mimic for guanosine during translation. Thus when editing occurs within messenger RNAs, it can recode specific codons, leading to changes to protein structure and function. By recoding mRNAs, organisms gain the option to express a diverse quiver of proteins when and where they choose. My lab focuses on RNA editing. We look at cephalopods because they recode proteins through RNA editing far more often than other organisms. We also are developing ways to redirect RNA editing to sites of our choosing.

Rosenthal Lab in the Press:

Cephalopods and RNA Editing:
Investigacion y Ciencia
Onezero
NPR All Things Considered
NPR Science Friday
Nature: A CRISPR first produces squid as clear as glass
New York Times
The Atlantic
National Public Radio
Scientific American
Science
Nature: Octopus smarts may come from RNA edits
Der Spiegel
Wired.com

Directed RNA Editing as a Therapeutic:
Bloomberg.com
Fierce Biotech
Businesswire.com
Chemical and Engineering News
Nature: Step aside CRISPR, RNA editing is taking off
New England Journal of Medicine