Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) plays a central role in ensuring the proper function of cells. Regions of DNA, called genes, encode instructions that direct important cellular processes. In order to fit inside the small confines of a cell, DNA associates with a number of proteins to form a compacted structure known as chromatin. The major protein components of chromatin are the histones, which directly participate in the condensation of DNA. Dr. Duina's research focuses on elucidating the basic molecular mechanisms that allow genes to convert the information they contain into specific biological events, a process broadly referred to as gene expression. The main goal of Dr. Duina's project is to obtain new insights into the interactions that occur between histones and members of another class of proteins, generally referred to as transcription elongation factors, which play critical roles in the proper expression of genes. For these studies, Dr. Duina will use as a model organism the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, which provides an experimental system extremely well suited to the genetic and biochemical approaches that his research group will employ.
This project will provide an excellent opportunity for undergraduate students to be actively engaged in cutting-edge scientific research. Under Dr. Duina's guidance, undergraduate students working in his laboratory will carry out experiments that will lead to new discoveries related to gene expression. In addition to learning first-hand how the process of scientific inquiry takes place in a research laboratory, from designing experiments to the interpretation of the results, these students will also experience the elation of learning something previously unknown about how life works. The ability to integrate the knowledge they have acquired in the classroom with hands-on, exciting scientific research will provide an invaluable experience for undergraduate students that will be instrumental in shaping their scientific career. Because the factors and processes that will be studied in this project are highly conserved between yeast and human cells, the results obtained by the students will significantly contribute to our current understanding of a basic biological process that also has major implications to human biology.
