Ibrahim Cissé’s Tools Provide a Lens to Watch RNA Production

The MIT physicist has demonstrated the importance of clusters of RNA polymerase and other transcription mediators in regulating RNA production.

Written byJef Akst

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ABOVE: Ibrahim Cissé (center) and colleagues COURTESY OF DENIS PAISTE, MIT MATERIALS RESEARCH LABORATORY

Ibrahim Cissé spent hours as a child taking apart and trying to rebuild electronics. Other times, he would reenact NASA space shuttle liftoffs, tipping a chair backward onto the floor and then climbing in, his knees and face pointed skyward. He’d shake the chair to simulate shooting through Earth’s atmosphere as he watched Hollywood movies about space exploration. Captivated by the US space program as well as the idea of the American dream he saw portrayed on the big screen, the Niger native begged his parents to allow him to come to the US for college. They agreed, and with the help of a host family in North Carolina, he moved across the Atlantic at age 17.

In 2002, Cissé transferred from community college to North Carolina Central University (NCCU), where he worked with physicist Kinney ...

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Meet the Author

Jef Akst
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Jef (an unusual nickname for Jennifer) got her master’s degree from Indiana University in April 2009 studying the mating behavior of seahorses. After four years of diving off the Gulf Coast of Tampa and performing behavioral experiments at the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga, she left research to pursue a career in science writing. As The Scientist's managing editor, Jef edited features and oversaw the production of the TS Digest and quarterly print magazine. In 2022, her feature on uterus transplantation earned first place in the trade category of the Awards for Excellence in Health Care Journalism. She is a member of the National Association of Science Writers.
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