Anthony B. Evnin '62 Professor in Genomics
Professor of Molecular Biology and the Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics
Director, Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics

Contact

msl2@princeton.edu
609-258-8611
Icahn Laboratory, 140

Faculty Assistant

Marybeth Fedele

Research Area

Genetics & Genomics

Research Focus

How noncoding regions of the genome function to control the differential patterns of gene expression, both spatial and temporal, that define cell behavior



Research
Selected Publications
Michael Levine's lab has studied mechanisms responsible for switching genes on and off in the early Drosophila embryo for over 30 years. These studies led to the characterization of the eve stripe 2 enhancer, short-range repression, and the regulation of long-range enhancer-promoter interactions.
For nearly 20 years the Levine lab have also studied the gene networks underlying the development of a simple protovertebrate, the sea squirt Ciona intestinalis. These studies led to the identification of rudimentary tissues for key innovations of the vertebrate “new head”, including cranial neural crest, neurogenic placodes, and the second heart field.
Dr. Michael Levine will begin his new post as Director of the Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics at Princeton University in July 2015. He is currently Professor of Genetics at UC Berkeley (since 1996) and Chairman of the Chancellor’s Advisory Council for Biology since 2012. Dr. Levine was Head of the Division of Genetics, Genomics and Development from 2007-2011 and served as Acting Director of the Functional Genomics Program at the Joint Genome Institute (DOE) in 2001. Prior to that he held faculty positions at Columbia University and UCSD, and was a Visiting Professor of Zoology at the University of Zurich from 1999-2000.
Dr. Levine obtained a BA in Genetics from UC Berkeley in 1976 and a PhD in Molecular Biophysics & Biochemistry from Yale in 1981. He was a postdoc in Basel, Switzerland in 1982-1983 where he was a co-discoverer of the homeobox (with Bill McGinnis). Dr. Levine was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1998. He received the Molecular Biology Award from the National Academy of Sciences in 1996, the Wilbur Cross Medal from Yale University in 2009, and the EG Conklin Medal from the Society of Development Biology in 2015.




Levo M, Raimundo J, Bing XYang, Sisco Z, Batut PJ, Ryabichko S, et al. Transcriptional coupling of distant regulatory genes in living embryos. Nature. 2022 ;605(7911):754-760. PubMed
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Weaver CJ, Patel AL, Shvartsman SY, Levine MS, Treen N. ERK signaling dissolves ERF repression condensates in living embryos. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2022 ;119(9). PubMed
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Batut PJ, Bing XYang, Sisco Z, Raimundo J, Levo M, Levine MS. Genome organization controls transcriptional dynamics during development. Science. 2022 ;375(6580):566-570. PubMed
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Chacha PPaul, Horie R, Kusakabe TG, Sasakura Y, Singh M, Horie T, et al. Neuronal identities derived by misexpression of the POU IV sensory determinant in a protovertebrate. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2022 ;119(4). PubMed
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Cofer EM, Raimundo J, Tadych A, Yamazaki Y, Wong AK, Theesfeld CL, et al. Modeling transcriptional regulation of model species with deep learning. Genome Res. 2021 ;31(6):1097-1105. PubMed
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Lim B, Levine MS. Enhancer-promoter communication: hubs or loops?. Curr Opin Genet Dev. 2021 ;67:5-9. PubMed
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Ing-Simmons E, Vaid R, Bing XYang, Levine M, Mannervik M, Vaquerizas JM. Independence of chromatin conformation and gene regulation during Drosophila dorsoventral patterning. Nat Genet. 2021 ;53(4):487-499. PubMed
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Lemaire LA, Cao C, Yoon PH, Long J, Levine M. The hypothalamus predates the origin of vertebrates. Sci Adv. 2021 ;7(18). PubMed
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Treen N, Shimobayashi SF, Eeftens J, Brangwynne CP, Levine M. Properties of repression condensates in living Ciona embryos. Nat Commun. 2021 ;12(1):1561. PubMed
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Horie R, Hazbun A, Chen K, Cao C, Levine M, Horie T. Shared evolutionary origin of vertebrate neural crest and cranial placodes. Nature. 2018 ;560(7717):228-232. PubMed
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Fukaya T, Lim B, Levine M. Enhancer Control of Transcriptional Bursting. Cell. 2016 ;166(2):358-368. PubMed
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Oktaba K, Zhang W, Lotz TSabrina, Jun DJayhyun, Lemke SBeatrice, Ng SPak, et al. ELAV links paused Pol II to alternative polyadenylation in the Drosophila nervous system. Mol Cell. 2015 ;57(2):341-8. PubMed
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Bothma JP, Garcia HG, Ng S, Perry MW, Gregor T, Levine M. Enhancer additivity and non-additivity are determined by enhancer strength in the Drosophila embryo. Elife. 2015 ;4. PubMed
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Haupaix N, Abitua PB, Sirour C, Yasuo H, Levine M, Hudson C. Ephrin-mediated restriction of ERK1/2 activity delimits the number of pigment cells in the Ciona CNS. Dev Biol. 2014 ;394(1):170-80. PubMed
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Levine M, Cattoglio C, Tjian R. Looping back to leap forward: transcription enters a new era. Cell. 2014 ;157(1):13-25. PubMed
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Bothma JP, Garcia HG, Esposito E, Schlissel G, Gregor T, Levine M. Dynamic regulation of eve stripe 2 expression reveals transcriptional bursts in living Drosophila embryos. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2014 ;111(29):10598-603. PubMed
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Levine M. Retrospective. Walter Gehring (1939-2014). Science. 2014 ;345(6194):277. PubMed
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Levine M. The contraction of time and space in remote chromosomal interactions. Cell. 2014 ;158(2):243-244. PubMed
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Wagner E, Stolfi A, Choi YGi, Levine M. Islet is a key determinant of ascidian palp morphogenesis. Development. 2014 ;141(15):3084-92. PubMed
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