L. Stirling Churchman, PhD (Dale F. Frey Scientist ‘11, Merck Fellow ‘08-‘11) of the University of California, San Francisco, developed a new technique that allows the process of transcription (how the cell makes RNA from the DNA template) to be studied in living cells at high resolution. Using this technology, researchers will now be able to watch transcription as it is happening, leading to important insights into how genes are turned on and off. This is likely to have implications for the understanding of normal development as well as of cancer and other diseases. The study was published in the prestigious journal Nature.