Jingyi SHI

Jingyi Shi studies the genetics of acute myeloid leukaemia (AML), a cancer of white blood cells. In AML patients, the rapid proliferation of abnormal cells in the bone marrow interferes with the production of normal blood cells and can rapidly cause life-threatening illness. During her PhD research Jingyi Shi identified a number of genes in leukaemia patients which are prevented from functioning correctly by a process called DNA methylation. The genomic DNA is chemically modified through the addition of a methyl group, made up of carbon and hydrogen atoms. The gene, said to be “silenced”, is no longer able to produce the protein that it codes for. In the case of AML this is a tumour suppressor protein which, in a healthy person, would control the proliferation of abnormal blood cells. Without this protein in action, the mutant cancer cells can proliferate unabated. She now wants to investigate this process in more detail to shed light on the significance of these genes and the different biochemical pathways that are involved in leukaemia. Her fellowship is hosted by the Institute of Cancer Research, Sutton, UK,