Research
Faithful transfer of genetic material is critical for the success of all cell divisions. Yet, as the organism ages this process becomes more error prone, leading to aneuploidic daughter cells due to mis-segregation of chromosomes. This can lead to cancer in mitotic cells, and in the female germline it leads to reduced fertility and an exponential increase in miscarriages and birth defects already at the fourth decade of life. During the development of germ cells, one cycle of chromosome replication is followed by two rounds of segregations to reduce the chromosome number by half, and thereby create the haploid sperm and eggs. In the first meiotic division (meiosis I) homologous chromosomes segregate, while in the second division (meiosis II) sister chromatids segregate.
Work in our laboratory is focused on finding the answers to two questions:
​
1. How are oocytes and sperm developed?
​
2. What controls germline aging?
​
To answer these questions, we are working to find the underline genetic program and the master regulators for oocyte development and aging. We found that oocyte aging can be delayed by pharmacological inhibition of specific cellular signaling pathway. Read more.
We take special interest in classes of genes which have not been studied before, such as long intergenic non-coding RNAs. We find that these work in different mechanisms than coding genes, and sometimes in tissues other than the germline. Read more.
We develop new ways to use CRISPR genome engineering to create worm strains with different chromosome structures. This allowed us to uncover that sex chromosome silencing during meiosis depends on the continuity of the chromosome.
