Graduate Program in Molecular Genetics and Cell Biology
The goal of the doctoral program in Molecular Genetics and Cell Biology is to foster advanced scholarship and research in the combined areas of cell biology, genetics, and molecular biology. Students are introduced to a broad spectrum of experimental rationales and technical approaches and typically learn several in depth. Skills in genetic analysis include transgenic, reverse genetic, and genomic analysis, as well as molecular analysis of genes and gene products. Skills in structural analysis include the use of advanced optical and electron microscopy, including EM tomography, atomic force microscopy, and dynamic in vivo imaging. Students learn to identify the model organisms and the appropriate tools and techniques that will allow them to answer their scientific questions in the most effective way. Among the model organisms in which training is available are eukaryotic and prokaryotic viruses, diverse bacteria including cyanobacteria, Tetrahymena, Saccharomyces and other yeasts, Chlamydomonas, Drosophila, Caenorhabditis, Arabidopsis and other plant species, mice, and humans.
The program is administered by the Department of Molecular Genetics and Cell Biology and draws its internationally distinguished faculty from that department as well as from a number of others. At a broad level, the research programs of this faculty seek to reveal the very basic molecular mechanisms underlying biological phenomena in a cellular context. Major research foci include the biogenesis of cellular organelles; the assembly and organization of cellular structures; the coordination, regulation and four dimensional orchestration of the cell division cycle; the molecular basis of gene expression and regulation; cellular and molecular aspects of chromosome recombination and transmission; molecular and cellular mechanisms of metazoan development; mechanisms of cell-cell interaction in fertilization, development and disease; and how cells sense and respond to signals. Students trained in the program are highly competitive for top postdoctoral positions and go on to influential careers in basic academic, biomedical, or industrial research.