My name is Colin Logie, European, Associate Professor at the Dept. of Molecular Biology, theme Infectious diseases and global health.
When you were a kid what did you want to be when you grew up? Can you tell us something about your child years.
When I was five I wanted to be a zoologist rather than a veterinary, probably because my mother’s name was Zoé Logie. The older I became the more obvious it was for me that science and its way of determining truths was the best way to remain sane in a world that still siderates me on a daily basis.
What is your academic trajectory to date?
Flemish primary and secondary school in Brussels, Belgium (1975-1987)
B.Sc. Honours in genetics and molecular biology Glasgow, Scotland (1987-1991)
Ph.D. Molecular Biology EMBL, Heidelberg, Germany (1991-1995)
Post-doc Molecular Medicine, UMASS, USA (1996-1999)
PI at the RIMLS (1999-present)
The RIMLS motto is: ‘Today’s molecules for tomorrow’s medicine’. What does this mean for you?
That today’s fundamental molecular studies are needed to enable tomorrow’s medical modalities. ‘Today’s curiosity for tomorrow’s knowledge’ would be the generalization.
Who are your great examples as scientists? And please give a motivation why.
Jacques Monod and Francois Jacob. I read one of Francois Jacobs books when I was fourteen years old. I did not understand everything, but it certainly fed my desire to become a research scientist. When I was seventeen I chose to enroll for biochemistry, following the example of these fine biochemists.
Which research discoveries that you have made have made you most proud?
I was the first to build ligand-inducible site-specific DNA recombinases (published in 1995 after filing the patent) generating mutant estrogen binding domain- DNA recombinase fusions that are only activated by synthetic compounds such as tamoxifen but insensitive to endogenous estrogen. This provides tight control over chromosome configurations in vivo, effectively fixing transient stimulation as a chromosome rearrangement. Derivates and analogs of my constructs are very widely used in functional genomics research since then, the most famous being CRE-ERTAM . A close second is the seredipitous discovery that I published in 2007 with Coen Campsteijn and Anne-Marie Collin, that we could induce meiotic ploidy shifts by tampering with the activity of SWI/SNF, a yeast ATP-dependent nucleosome remodeling complex which I had shown in 1999 to be targeted by a viral transcription factor activation domain in biochemical chromatin reconstitution reactions consisting of chicken histones, sea urchin 5S rDNA and purified yeast SWI/SNF complex. The fact that this heterologous system worked is a tribute to the high conservation of fundamental molecular mechanisms of transcription control across all strata of eukaryotic life forms. The fact that the SWI/SNF complex holds a key to ploidy control remains very intriguing. I guess I am most proud of being in a position to intrigue myself, working as a PI at the RIMLS.
Given unlimited finance what experiment would you perform?
I would apply next generation sequencing to the DNA and RNA of cells from in vitro colonies, organoids and gastruloids and combine this with reverse genetic strategies to discover how the members of transcription factor families work together and with the rest of the cell's proteins to control RNA polymerase II-mediated gene expression control and thus cell behavior. I want to more deeply understand gene expression homeostasis and its relation to cellular catabolism and anabolism, especially in cancer and stem cells. With my limited financing I 'only' study human monocytes.
What does your working area (desk, office) look like and what does it say about you (or your research)?
My post-doc advisor Craig Peterson once said to me that “An empty desk is a sign of an empty mind.”. The desktop of my computer, my desk and my office are cluttered and chaotic. About once or twice a semester I sort all the print-outs and either file them or put them in the paper recycling container. That is relatively close to my manuscript submission rate.
Nominate a colleague to be in the spotlight and what would you like to ask him or her?
Simon van Heeringen: Let’s assume we knew how all genes were regulated. What do you think you should apply this knowledge for? What do you think others would like you to apply it for? And what would you want others to do with this information?
What type of person are you, quick insights:
a) Mac or PC? : PC and Macb) Theater or cinema? : Cinema
c) Dine out or dine in? : Dine out
d) Ferrari or Fiat? : Fiat
e) Shopaholic or chocoholic? : Chocoholic
f) Culture or Nature : Nurture
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