During the course so far, I have learned a significant amount regarding enhancers and their function in gene regulation. I had previously only learned about enhancers in passing, but the papers and lectures in class have allowed me to delve deeper and develop a better understanding of how enhancers work to upregulate gene expression. I realized that I understood the concept better as I was reading a paper for another class and there was a passing mention of an enhancer. I immediately found myself picturing the “enhancer looping” that has been proposed as a model for enhancer interaction with promoters – something I had learned from the Plank and Dean paper assigned as a reading for class. I think that this is the best sign that you have understood a concept – when you find yourself applying the knowledge to another area or problem.

I would say that enhancer function is a concept, rather than a skill or technique, since it takes the application of several skills and techniques in order to actually study it. Many experiments are required in order to determine the mechanisms of enhancer action. The understanding of enhancers and their function is important for anyone who is studying gene expression and development. Enhancers are believed to be key in embryonic stem cell differentiation, as the enhancers of pluripotency genes are progressively inactivated as cells become committed to different fates. Furthermore, enhancers are a vast potential area for future research. The majority of enhancers in the mammalian genome and their specific targets are still unknown, although many of them are presumed to be involved in development, evolution, and disease (Stark et al., 2014),