Areas Of Research
Gene Structure and Regulation

The department has a number of faculty members who are involved in identifying and studying genes, their organization in viruses, yeast, plants and humans. The herpes simplex virus gene expression during productive and latent infections is being studied. The regulation of cholesterol metabolism is being analyzed in the hope of eventually controlling the high levels of cholesterol associated with heart disease. The work in amyloid proteins has provided new insights in the development of Alzheimer's disease. The genes which are involved with the fixation of atmospheric N2 are being analyzed for the structure-function relationship using mutation overexpression, purification and structural analysis. The basic mechanisms in the transport of proteins in the cell organelle is also being elucidated.

The faculty members of the department have knowledge and experience in every aspect of gene analysis and their expression in bacterial, fungal, and mammalian systems. the expression of recombinant genes in defined organisms is the basis of recombinant gene products. The faculty and their research team routinely carry out experiments including identifying new gene(s), characterizing their structure, over-expressing them in different expression systems, and purifying them to homogeneity using the most sophisticated techniques.