Michael R. Green

Green made major contributions to the understanding of eukaryotic gene regulation in two major areas: pre-mRNA splicing and transcription. He helped pioneer efficient in vitro pre-mRNA splicing systems, co-discovered the RNA lariat and pre-mRNA splicing pathway, and cloned and functionally characterized the essential splicing factor U2AF. He elucidated how viral and cellular activators stimulate transcription, identified the CREB/ATF bZIP protein family, and determined in vivo functions of TATA binding protein-associated factors (TAFs). His later work used transcription-based approaches and functional screens to identify new genes, regulatory pathways and drug-resistance mechanisms involved in cancer, which have important therapeutic implications.