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 RNA Splicing in Yeast and Humans
Manuel Ares, Jr., MCD Biology
The Ares laboratory investigates molecular mechanisms that control RNA splicing, a process that influences the nature of the protein expressed from a gene. Analysis of such mechanisms can help determine why the same disease gene produces variable symptoms in different individuals. [More]
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 Structure and Functional Analysis of the Spliceosome
Melissa Jurica, MCD Biology
The spliceosome is a large cellular machine that is critical to the process of gene expression. Professor Jurica examines how the spliceosome is assembled and how its catalytic mechanism is involved in gene splicing. Because mutations that affect basic and alternative gene splicing have been associated with a number of human diseases, including cancers, understanding how this large cellular machine functions promises to provide important insights into prevention and treatment of such diseases. [More]
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Biomedical Implications of Ribosome Research
Harry Noller, MCD Biology
Ribosomes are RNA-based molecular machines that are responsible for synthesis of proteins. Researchers in the Noller laboratory were the first to solve the complete structure of a ribosome using X-ray crystallography. Besides the importance of protein synthesis to understanding the molecular basis of cellular function, research on ribosomes promises to improve the design of new antibiotics. Many of today's most effective anti-microbial drugs work by targeting bacterial ribosomes. As pathogenic bacteria continue to develop resistance to commonly used antibiotics, clarification of the structure and molecular mechanisms of bacterial ribosomes will be critical for the design of new drugs that will keep pace with rapidly evolving bacteria. [More] |
 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 Pre-mRNA Splicing and Post-Transcriptional Regulation by Micro RNAs
Alan Zahler, MCD Biology
The human genome carries the blueprint for the creation of proteins, the molecular machines that carry out most of the work in the body. However, the diversity of the pool of available proteins is greatly enhanced by alterative splicing of our genes. The Zahler laboratory examines the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans in order to understand the regulatory mechanisms of this alternative splicing.. [More]
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RNA Catalysis
William Scott, Dept. of Chemistry and Biochemistry
Ribozmes are RNA-based enzymes whose comparatively recent discovery came as major surprize to the scientific community, as it has always been assumed that only proteins could be enzymes. Researchers in the Scott laboratory are trying to understand how ribozymes work, using X-ray crystallography and other biochemical and biophysical techniques. The potential use of ribozymes as therapeutic agents that target RNA viruses (such as HIV) and pathological mRNAs (such as oncogene transcripts) is well-documented. Although the primary motive for our research is to answer questions of a fundamental scientific nature, it is hoped that the results of these studies will provide practical information to the scientific and medical communities to enable more potent and effective ribozyme-based pharmaceuticals to be developed by others. [More] |
 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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 Large Scale Approaches to Study Whole-Genome Biology
Todd Lowe, Dept. of Biomolecular Engineering
Todd Lowe's research group uses a mixture of computational and experimental genomics to identify and characterize non-coding RNA (ncRNA) genes and to study the unique biology of Archaeal “extremophiles” – microbes that live at the edge of the limits of life. His team has created several classes of non-coding RNAs gene-finders, and has created full-genome DNA microarrays for two different hyperthermophile species to study ancient forms of respiration and strategies for thermo-tolerance. The group has also created a genome browser and functional genomics resource for all archaeal and extremophile species (archaea.ucsc.edu), now funded by the NSF. [More]
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