Hayden Jones

I am investigating the role of long, non-coding RNA’s (lncRNA’s) in the pathogenesis of atrial fibrillation (AF). Recently, several single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP’s) have been identified in a particular lncRNA gene that potentially increase the risk of developing AF in later life. My project aims to characterise the structure of this transcript and to measure its expression pattern during heart development. I will then utilise a variety of techniques, such as CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing, nanopore sequencing, and enhancer trapping to gain an insight as to how the reported AF-associated SNP’s affect the functioning of the lncRNA gene.