History of enhancer sequences, identification, validation

In this first lecture, Prof. Denis Duboule presents the general and historical context that explains why these small DNA sequences have become such an important object of study today. The main reason is the key role played by these sequences in genetic regulation, which is itself becoming increasingly important in our consideration of the mechanisms responsible for both embryonic development and evolution. Next, the historical circumstances leading to the discovery of these sequences are described, as well as the first approaches used in the early 1990s to locate and identify DNA sequences with the remarkable property of potentiating the expression of target genes.