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 Genome Bioinformatics: Comparative Sequence Analysis of Mammalian Genomes
David Haussler, Dept. of Biomolecular Engineering
Dr. Haussler's research lies at the interface of mathematics, computer science, and molecular biology. He has focused on computational analysis and classification of DNA, RNA, and protein sequences. As a collaborator on the public Human Genome Project, his team posted the first publicly available computational assembly of the human genome sequence on the Internet, and it now maintains UCSC's Genome Browser, which is used extensively in biomedical research. [More]
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 Meiotic Chromosome Dynamics
Needhi Bhalla, Department of MCD Biology
During meiosis, homologous chromosomes must pair, synapse and recombine with their unique partner; all of these events are required for accurate chromosome segregation. The Bhalla lab uses C. elegans as a model system to dissect how these events are regulated, coordinated and monitored to produce gametes, such as sperm and eggs, with the correct chromosome complement. Defects in meiotic chromosome segregation usually lead to embryonic inviability but can result in developmental disorders, infertility or cancer predisposition.cell biology and chromosome biology. [More] |
 The Dynamics and Function of Chromatin Structure
Hinrich Boeger, Dept. of MCD Biology
Eukaryotic organisms must package an enormous amount of genetic information in their chromosomes. DNA and proteins form a complex called chromatin, which enables this information to be compacted into a very small space within the nucleus. However, these chromatin structures must also be periodically unfolded in order to make genes accessible to regulatory factors and the molecular machinery that transcribes their information to make functional proteins for the cell. Hinrich Boeger's lab studies the unfolding of chromatin structures in the context of gene regulatory events. [More]
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 Transcription, Elongation, Chromatin and Human Disease
Grant Hartzog, Dept. of MCD Biology
Grant Hartzog's laboratory investigates the roles of proteins that regulate the rate of transcription elongation - i.e. how quickly RNA polymerases travel along and transcribe genes into RNA. Many normal cellular genes are known to be regulated at the level of elongation, and the HIV virus specifically co-opts normal transcription elongation factors to regulate its own replication. Thus, understanding how transcription elongation is controlled is important for an understanding of both normal and abnormal gene expression. [More]
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 Transcriptional Silencing and Insulators
Rohinton Kamakaka, Dept. of MCD Biology
Rohinton Kamakaka is interested in how physical and functional organization of chromatin influences gene regulation. His lab focuses on the mechanism by which the genome is partitioned into structural and functional units. Using molecular and genetic analysis, coupled with biochemical experiments, the group is presently investigating the architecture of silenced chromatin domains, as well as the mechanism by which chromatin domains are delimited. [More]
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 Intracellular Transport and Cytoplasmic Organization
Bill Saxton, Dept. of MCD Biology
Bill Saxton's lab studies mechanisms that drive intracellular transport and cytoplasmic organization, using invertebrate model systems. One focus is on mitotic chromosome movements in C. elegans embryos, which are necessary for normal cell division. The mitotic spindle is a wonderfully complex cellular machine. Its function, precise separation of duplicate chromosome sets, and then guidance of a properly oriented cell cleavage between the two sets, is at the center of normal development, growth and maintenance of life. It is also central to uncontrolled tissue growth in cancer. In collaboration with UCSC Professor Susan Strome, Saxton is examining how microtubule motors and the cytoskeleton contribute to mitosis, as well as to other early developmental processes. [More]
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 Chromatin Regulation in Development and Disease
Susan Strome, Dept. of MCD Biology
The currently booming field of "epigenetics" includes investigations of how chromatin-level regulation controls gene expression and development. The Strome lab uses the nematode C. elegans to investigate the roles of covalent histone modifications in specifying the ON and OFF states of genes, and in guiding cells to adopt correct fates and undergo correct developmental programs. [More]
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 Regulation of Chromatin Structure and Gene Expression
John Tamkun, Dept. of MCD Biology
The Tamkun lab investigates regulation of chromatin's high order structure and its role in gene expression. Composed of DNA and proteins, chromatin's ability to fold enables the eukaryotic genome to be packaged into an extremely small space inside the nucleus of the cell. Proper transcription and replication of the genome also depend upon precise regulation of these dynamic structures, with defects in these processes believed to underly many human diseases. [More]
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