The human body is made up of thousands of different cell types, which are undeniably different from one another. Yet, all these cells carry the exact same genomic information, the same DNA. So how do they perform specialized and distinct functions?
Think of the genome as a book of universal recipes. Every cell owns the same book, but only reads the chapters it needs. One cell might open to chapter 12 and “cook” a lung, while another turns to chapter 5 and “cooks” a heart. The key to this selective reading lies in a molecule called RNA, an intermediate step between DNA and proteins, the ultimate functional building blocks of cells. From a single DNA sequence, cells can mix things up and produce slightly different RNA molecules. These, in turn, lead to different proteins, allowing cells to take on unique roles.
The study of all active RNA molecules in a tissue or organism is called transcriptomics. This is possible thanks to a technique called sequencing, which is able to read all the letters that compose the words of our cellular recipes. Until recently, this could only be done on mixed groups of cells from a tissue or an organism. But now, thanks to single-cell sequencing, scientists can read the RNA of individual cells, forever changing how biological questions can be asked and answered. This technology lets us see what each cell is, what it is doing, and, if something is going wrong, why. It is like taking a molecular X-ray of every single cell.
At the Transcriptomics of Development and Evolution lab (UPF and CRG, Barcelona), we use single-cell sequencing to explore a wide range of biological questions, from how organs form and cell types evolve to how diseases arise. In my research, I use this powerful technique to study the evolution of sensory neurons, the specialized cells that allow us to experience the world, such as the photoreceptors in our eyes, the hair cells in our ears, and the olfactory neurons that let us smell. I am particularly interested in uncovering what makes each of these cells unique at the molecular level. What allows one cell to detect a photon of light, while another senses an odorant molecule or responds to a sound? By comparing these cells across different species, I aim to reconstruct their evolutionary history, identify key changes that gave rise to new functions, and better understand how cellular diversity has helped organisms adapt to their environments. This research not only reveals general principles about how cells develop and evolve in vertebrates, it can also help us understand the molecular roots of sensory disorders, such as blindness.
Master’s degree from the University of Naples “Federico II” and a PhD in Biomedicine from the Centre for Genomic Regulation and Pompeu Fabra University (UPF) in Barcelona. She is currently a postdoctoral researcher at UPF. Her main scientific interests lie in genomics and transcriptomics, with a particular focus on gene regulation and cell type evolution.