Sexual reproduction transforms our DNA with exquisite fidelity
DNA damage to the "immortal germline" is one of the greatest threats to any species, yet sexually reproducing animals, plants, and fungi deliberately break and reform their genomes during germ cell development. The number and spacing of these “crossover” events between parental chromosomes are highly regulated, and failures of this process are a leading cause of human infertility and congenital conditions.
Signaling along chromosomes
We introduced a method to track the motion of single molecules within developing eggs in the C. elegans reproductive tract. We showed that proteins that regulate crossovers rapidly diffuse along a liquid-like scaffold between parental chromosomes known as the Synaptonemal Complex. Such dynamics can explain how crossover sites are spatially coordinated, and likely represent a conserved mechanism.
Our vision: Reverse-engineering meiosis
Inspired by nanoscience, genetics and genomics, and synthetic biology, we develop tools to measure, manipulate and model how crossovers are coordinated along meiotic chromosomes.
Our work on the basic science of recombination strives to advance human reproductive health, crop breeding, and diseases of DNA repair such as cancer.