Genomics is the study of the complete set of DNA of an organism, including its sequence, organization, function, and evolution. The study of genomics incorporates a wide variety of experimental, computational, and statistical methodologies and has been greatly accelerated in recent years with the advent of next-generation sequencing technologies, high-density molecular assays (e.g. microarrays, droplet PCR), and advances in computational biology and biostatistics. Genomic research within the Department of Biology spans a wide range of subdisciplines including functional genomics, population and evolutionary genomics, and developmental genomics.
Genomics
Daniele Armaleo
Associate Professor of the Practice of Biology
My research centers on the developmental and molecular biology of lichens, well differentiated symbioses between two or three evolutionarily unrelated organisms: specialized fungi on the one hand and algae or cyanobacteria on the... Full Profile »
L. Ryan Baugh
Associate Professor of Biology
We study nutritional control of development in the roundworm Caenorhabditis elegans. We are interested in the signaling pathways and gene regulatory mechanisms that enable the worm to reversibly arrest development and resist stress in response to starvation. We are also interested in epigenetic... Full Profile »
Xinnian Dong
Arts and Sciences Professor of Biology
Using Arabidopsis thaliana as a model system, my laboratory studies the mechanisms of plant defense against microbial pathogens. We focus on a specific response known as systemic acquired resistance (SAR). SAR,... Full Profile »
Steven B. Haase
Associate Professor of Biology
Our group is broadly interested in understanding the biological clock mechanisms that control the timing of events during the cell division cycle. In 2008, the Haase group proposed a new model in which a complex network of sequentially activated transcription factors regulates the precise timing of... Full Profile »
Daniel P. Kiehart
Professor of Biology
Our intellectual focus is on identifying determinants of cell shape that function during development. Utilizing molecular genetic and reverse genetic approaches in Drosophila, we have shown that conventional nonmuscle myosin is necessary for driving both cell division and post-mitotic cell shape... Full Profile »
Thomas Mitchell-Olds
Newman Ivey White Professor of Biology
We study genetic variation in plant populations, focusing on genes that influence traits controlling plant performance in an environmental context – a central theme throughout our research in natural and agricultural populations. Much of our work is focused on the genes that affect ecological... Full Profile »
Mohamed A. F. Noor
Professor of Biology
Research in my laboratory strives to understand what genetic changes contribute to the formation of new species, and how the process of genetic recombination affects both species formation and molecular evolution. I've been fascinated at how often genetic recombination plays a major role in any... Full Profile »
Zhen-Ming Pei
Associate Professor of Biology
My laboratory is interested in the early signaling events by which plants sense environmental signals and decode to give the appropriate responses. Upon perception of external signals, cell surface receptors trigger an increase in cytosolic free calcium concentration, which is mediated by ion... Full Profile »
Allen Rodrigo, Ph.D.
Adjunct Professor of Biology
My research focuses on evolutionary bioinformatics and computatioanl biology. In particular, I am interested in the development of novel methods to study the evolution of genes, genomes, organisms and species. Full Profile »
Amy K. Schmid
Associate Professor of Biology
Research in my lab seeks to elucidate how cells make decisions in response to environmental cues. My particular focus is on how networks of molecules interact within free-living microbial cells. These networks govern the decision to grow when conditions are optimal or deploy damage repair systems... Full Profile »
Gustavo M. Silva
Assistant Professor of Biology
My main research goal is to understand and be able to control how cells respond to stressful and harmful conditions, which are the underlying causes of many human diseases. To achieve this goal, I study cellular response to stress at the protein level and aim to characterize the different... Full Profile »
Marcy K. Uyenoyama
Professor of Biology
Marcy Uyenoyama studies mechanisms of evolutionary change at the molecular and population levels. Among the questions under study include the prediction and detection of the effects of natural selection on genomic structure. A major area of research addresses the development of maximum-likelihood... Full Profile »
John H. Willis
Professor of Biology
We conduct research on broad issues in evolutionary genetics, and we are currently addressing questions relating to the evolution of adaptation, reproductive isolation, breeding systems, inbreeding depression, and... Full Profile »
Gregory Allan Wray
Professor of Biology
I study the evolution of genes and genomes with the broad aim of understanding the origins of biological diversity. My approach focuses on changes in the expression of genes using both empirical and computational approaches and spans scales of biological organization from single nucleotides... Full Profile »