Immediately following fertilization, the genome undergoes a monumental feat — it’s reprogrammed to allow specialized germ cells to transition to an early embryo. This process requires DNA genome remodeling to enable the expression of a …
Thesis Reviews
IPiB Thesis Defense June 23: Jennifer Peotter
Hereditary spastic paraplegia (HSP) is a group of inherited neurologic disorders that cause weakness and stiffness in the leg muscles. Defects in membrane trafficking can contribute to HSP and other neurodegenerative diseases. For her Ph.D. …
IPiB Thesis Defense Dec. 14: Adam Lewis
Ion channels provide passageways through which charged ions can cross cellular membranes. Some ion channels allow only one type of ion through, while others, called nonselective ion channels, allow multiple types of ions to cross. …
IPiB Thesis Defense Nov. 15: Kanika Jain
Damage to DNA during its replication can be caused by exposure to ultraviolet radiation, drugs, internal factors, and more. Typically, repair proteins come to the rescue. These proteins scan the genome and remove damage and …
IPiB Thesis Defense Nov. 4: Tina Lynch
As a graduate student in the Integrated Program in Biochemistry (IPiB), Tina Lynch studied germline stem cells, the cells that ultimately produce sperm and eggs, in roundworms. Lynch, a member of the Kimble Lab, was …
IPiB Thesis Defense Oct. 28: Jessica Cardenas
Plants go through different stages of development that are modulated by different types of signals. Some signals come from within the plants themselves, while others, such as environmental stressors, a plant can only respond to. …
IPiB Thesis Defense Nov 4: Katarzyna Dubiel
The lab of Professor Jim Keck is broadly interested in bacterial genome maintenance, and IPiB student Katarzyna (Kasia) Dubiel focused her Ph.D. research on single-stranded DNA-binding proteins (SSBs), which play a major role in this …
IPiB Thesis Defense Oct. 18: Samantha Anderson
Membrane proteins are notoriously difficult to study. It’s why scientists have turned to computational methods to try to predict their characteristics. For her thesis research, Samantha Anderson of the Senes Lab investigated a specific motif …
IPiB Thesis Defense Oct. 4: Thao Nguyen
One project in the lab of IPiB faculty member Michael R. Sussman investigates a proton pump present in plant and fungal cells. The pump converts the chemical energy of ATP into an electrical and chemical …
IPiB Thesis Defense Oct. 4: Hugo Medina-Munoz
The lab of biochemistry professor Marvin Wickens studies how RNA molecules are controlled and interact with proteins. While RNA is the intermediary between DNA and proteins, it is not just a simple default: instead, RNA …