Michael Levine

About

Michael Levine is the Anthony B. Evnin '62 Professor in Genomics and a Professor of Molecular Biology at Princeton University. His research focuses on how noncoding regions of the genome function to control the differential patterns of gene expression, both spatially and temporally, that define cell behavior. Levine's lab has studied mechanisms responsible for switching genes on and off in the early Drosophila embryo for over 30 years, leading to the characterization of the eve stripe 2 enhancer, short-range repression, and the regulation of long-range enhancer-promoter interactions. Additionally, his research has explored gene networks underlying the development of the sea squirt Ciona intestinalis, a simple protovertebrate, which has led to the identification of rudimentary tissues for key vertebrate innovations such as cranial neural crest, neurogenic placodes, and the second heart field. Levine has held faculty positions at Columbia University and UCSD, served as Head of the Division of Genetics, Genomics and Development at UC Berkeley, and was a Visiting Professor of Zoology at the University of Zurich. He obtained a BA in Genetics from UC Berkeley and a PhD in Molecular Biophysics & Biochemistry from Yale. He was a postdoctoral researcher in Basel, Switzerland, where he co-discovered the homeobox. Levine was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1998 and has received numerous awards including the Molecular Biology Award from the National Academy of Sciences,…

Research topics

• Biology
• Genetics
• Computational biology

Selected publications

• Genome organization controls transcriptional dynamics during development

  Science · 2022-02-03 · 250 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding

  Past studies offer contradictory claims for the role of genome organization in the regulation of gene activity. Here, we show through high-resolution chromosome conformation analysis that the Drosophila genome is organized by two independent classes of regulatory sequences, tethering elements and insulators. Quantitative live imaging and targeted genome editing demonstrate that this two-tiered organization is critical for the precise temporal dynamics of Hox gene transcription during development…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Transcriptional coupling of distant regulatory genes in living embryos

  Nature · 2022 · 192 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding
  DOI

• Independence of chromatin conformation and gene regulation during Drosophila dorsoventral patterning

  Nature Genetics · 2021-04-01 · 181 citations

  articleOpen access

  The relationship between chromatin organization and gene regulation remains unclear. While disruption of chromatin domains and domain boundaries can lead to misexpression of developmental genes, acute depletion of regulators of genome organization has a relatively small effect on gene expression. It is therefore uncertain whether gene expression and chromatin state drive chromatin organization or whether changes in chromatin organization facilitate cell-type-specific activation of gene expressio…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Enhancer-promoter communication: hubs or loops?

  Current Opinion in Genetics & Development · 2020 · 176 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding
  DOI

• Chromosome-level organization of the regulatory genome in the Drosophila nervous system

  Cell · 2023 · 76 citations

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Recent grants

• NIH Grant R01GM046638

  NIH · $4.2M · 2017

• Control of the 4D chromatin landscape underlying gene activity during development

  NIH · $3.2M · 2020–2025

• Heart Morphogenesis in the Ascidian, Ciona Intestinalis

  NSF · $420k · 2005–2008

Frequent coauthors

• Guy L. Steele

  Oracle (United States)

  109 shared

• Laxmikant V. Kalé

  University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

  84 shared

• Svein Eikeseth

  OsloMet – Oslo Metropolitan University

  76 shared

• Patricia Prelock

  76 shared

• Deborah Fein

  University of Connecticut

  76 shared

• Daniel S. Rokhsar

  Innovative Genomics Institute

  47 shared

• Xinyang Bing

  Thomas Jefferson University

  42 shared

• Jeffrey Glennon

  40 shared

Labs

• Michael Levine's LabPI

Education

• Postdoctoral Research Associate, Department of Biochemistry

  UC Berkeley

  1984

• Postdoctoral Research Associate, Department of Cell Biology

  Der Universitat Basel

  1983

• PhD, Department of Molecular Biophysics & Biochemistry

  Yale University

  1981

• BA, Department of Genetics

  UC Berkeley

  1976

Awards & honors

• Elected to the National Academy of Sciences (1998)
• Molecular Biology Award from the National Academy of Science…
• Wilbur Cross Medal from Yale University (2009)
• EG Conklin Medal from the Society of Development Biology (20…

Similar researchers at Princeton University

• Arnold J. Levineh-191
• Thomas E. Shenkh-136
• Bonnie L. Basslerh-130