Dr. Miglė Tomkuvienė - about Our DNA and What We Can Do to Make Our Genes Work in Harmony

Dr. Miglė Tomkuvienė , PhD in Biochemistry, takes a different approach to our body: she studies what happens in genes at the molecular level. This research is long-standing, involving thousands of researchers around the world, and the results are extending the boundaries of human understanding. “Contributing new discoveries to humanity’s body of knowledge is the most important thing for me,” says the researcher, whose main research focuses on natural and synthetic modifications to DNA.

This year, Dr. Tomkuvienė was announced as the winner of the prestigious L'Oréal-UNESCO Young Talent Program For Women in Science. During the L'Oréal-sponsored project, she and her team will study one of the human proteins that silences the necessary genes. We talked to Dr. Tomkuvienė in her office at the Vilnius University Life Sciences Center (VU LSC) to find out more about the prize and the project, as well as Dr. Tomkuvienė’s other research and interests. She also shared longevity tips that she herself practices.

“For me, there is no such thing as a normal working day. But that’s the fun of being a researcher - we do different things every day [...] In my opinion, the more you do, the more you manage to do. I do a lot of things, but for me they are slow. Research is a long process, after all”, Dr. Tomkuvienė begins the interview.

Q: After school, you chose to study molecular biology. Why were you attracted to this particular science? And did you already know then that you would be a researcher?

A: When I was choosing what to study, I didn’t even think I would be a researcher. I didn’t have that phrase in my head... I chose to study a subject I was interested in, molecular biology. My choice was probably influenced by the researchers I met when I was still a schoolgirl.

Once professors Eugenijus Arvydas Janulaitis and Gervydas Dienys came to our school, and I was lucky enough to meet Prof. Saulius Klimasauskas . Also, when we were already in the grade 12, we went the whole class to the VU Institute of Biotechnology to try experiments with DNA. What and how the researchers told us really helped me decide what to study. When I found out that there was a BSc program in Molecular Biology, I felt like a light bulb went off: yes, this is for me. Later, I chose Genetics for my Masters and Biochemistry for my PhD. I followed what I was interested in, what I wanted to learn. During my studies, the interest remained, I started to practice in the laboratory, and slowly I got involved in research. That’s how I stayed (laughs).

Q: During the pandemic, you were one of the most visible researchers interacting with the media and the public. Did you feel a greater sense of communication within?

A: It didn’t add any extra meaning for me, because I still know that my main job is a silent one - to do experiments and research. In other words, what the public doesn’t see for years. When that research, usually combined with the results of many other researchers, is of direct benefit, all the contributing researchers are not named. Contributing new discoveries to humanity’s body of knowledge is what is most important to me. During the pandemic, the whole world was in a critical situation and communication was simply necessary.

My husband is a member of the Lithuanian Riflemen's Union , and he has been telling me since 2014, when Russia took over part of Eastern Ukraine that if there anything happened, he would volunteer and go and fight. When the pandemic broke out, I realized that communicating with the public was my volunteering calling. So I saw my work in the pandemic more as volunteering to fight the virus.

Q: As far as I know, you are writing a popular science book on RNA. What kind of book is it and when will we be able to read it?

A: Yes, I am not writing it alone: we are six authors. The original idea was mine, but I knew I couldn’t write such a good book on my own, so I invited colleagues to join.

We are writing about RNA because RNA as a molecule was practically unmentioned and undiscussed before the pandemic. During the pandemic, there was talk about RNA vaccines and about RNA viruses. I was talking to journalists who kept asking me to tell them in two minutes what RNA is, how PCR tests work. I’ve been learning this for maybe 6 years, and suddenly I had to learn how to tell them about it in two minutes (laughs).

Obviously, a book is not going to replace interviews with journalists, but I want the public to understand better. So we are writing about the RNA molecule, what it does in humans and other animals, about viruses, about tests for viruses, and about gene scissors, because we also have the famous team of Prof. Virginijus Siksnys at our center. It turns out that there is also a piece of RNA inside those scissors. The book has already been written and we are editing it. We are waiting for beautiful illustrations. I hope it will be available for purchase soon.

Q: Today we are talking due to a very important occasion - you have been awarded the prestigious L'Oréal Prize For Women in Science. This prize is awarded for a year to carry out a specific study. Tell us more about your research that was awarded?

A: The Department I work in, led by Prof. Saulius Klimasauskas , at the Institute of Biotechnology at the VU LSC studies DNA modifications, which is one of the cornerstones of epigenetics. We study proteins that modify DNA: marking some genes in cells to make them work, and some - to make them ‘silent’. When cells differentiate, every human cell - tens of trillions of them - contains the same genome.

Humans, and other animals and plants, develop from a primordial cell that contains the entire genome. Cells divide, all share the same genome, but humans, for example, end up with different organs. This is achieved through epigenetic processes. Some genes that are not needed by heart cells, for example, are silenced. One of the mechanisms for this silencing is DNA modifications. And these are carried out by special proteins we use. In a project supported by L'Oréal, we will study in detail one of the human proteins that silences the necessary genes as cells differentiate.

We are currently collaborating with geneticists at the Vilnius University Hospital VUL Santaros klinikos . Geneticists study patients with genetic disorders at the macro level. We are trying to find out how things are happening at the molecular level, how the genes are dysregulated.

I hope that this will continue to be one of my main themes in my career. There are more than one of those epigenetic regulators, those proteins in the cell. So we will study one now and then move on to the others. And the network of known regulators is growing and growing.

Read more about the prize, epigenetics research, and the secret of how Dr. Miglė Tomkuvienė stops aging in the full article on the VU LSC website: https://www.gmc.vu.lt/en/about/news/3314-dr-migle-tomkuviene-about-our-dna-and-what-we-can-do-to-make-our-genes-work-in-harmony

Interviewed by Goda Raibytė-Aleksa 🚀

Photo credits: Justinas Auškelis