Genes and Genome Systems Cluster

The Genes and Genome Systems Cluster, one of three thematic areas within the Division of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences, supports studies on the structure, function and evolution of genes and genomes in prokaryotes, eukaryotes, phages, and viruses.  Areas of interest include the following: (i) mechanisms of genome maintenance including replication, repair and recombination; (ii) nuclear and extra-nuclear inheritance, horizontal gene transfer and other mechanisms leading to diversity and novel adaptive strategies in the biosphere; (iii) genetic and epigenetic mechanisms including chromatin modification and remodeling; (iv) mechanisms and regulation of gene expression including transcription, RNA processing, translation, turnover and RNA interference; (vi) structure, function and dynamics of nucleic acids and nucleic acid-protein complexes and machines; and (vii) molecular evolution and the origin of life.  Research on multi-component genetic processes is encouraged, including projects with direct relevance to climate change and energy sustainability.  The cluster welcomes "bottom-up" synthetic biology projects and "top-down" systems biology projects that integrate computational strategies with high-throughput, comparative genome-wide approaches and other experimental strategies to investigate complex gene networks and their outputs.  The development and use of innovative in vivo and in vitro approaches, including biochemical, biophysical, computational, genetic, genomic, and metagenomic methods are encouraged, as is research at the interfaces between biology and other disciplines such as physics, chemistry, mathematics, computer science, and engineering.

Program Directors:

Karen Cone.   Epigentic regulation; Plant genetics and genomics; Gene expression mechanisms.

Neocles B. Leontis.  Structure, function and dynamics of DNA, RNA and nucleic acid-protein complexes; Ribosome structure, function and assembly; Synthetic biology; RNA processing, turnover and RNA interference; Computational biology and biophysical studies.