Our laboratory studies the dynamics and organization of eukaryotic genomes. Every eukaryotic cell must compact its DNA into the nucleus while maintaining the accessibility of the DNA to the replication, repair, expression and segregation machinery. Eukaryotes accomplish this feat by assembling their genomes into chromatin and folding that chromatin into functional compartments. We are studying four key processes in the eukaryotic nucleus: 1) the genetic and epigenetic basis for centromere formation that enables chromosome segregation, 2) the role of noncoding RNAs in structuring the genome and regulating gene expression, 3) the formation of silent heterochromatin and its role in genome organization and 4) the activation of the embryonic genome at the maternal to zygotic transition. We rely on biochemistry, quantitative microscopy and genomics to probe genome dynamics in vitro and in living systems. Our goal is to uncover the core principles that organize eukaryotic genomes and to understand how genome organization controls organismal function.
All Postdocs. All the Time.
Aaron Straight
Stanford Departments and Centers:
Biochemistry
Person Title:
Associate Professor
