Tania A. Baker, Ph.D. . . . . . O ur goal is to understand how protein DNA complexes involved in genetic recombination and DNA replication are assembled, organized and disassembled. These processes are being studied using biochemistry, molecular biology and genetics.
Current emphasis is on the protein-DNA complexes involved in DNA transposition. . .
Transposable elements appear to have successfully invaded all forms of life, promoting their movement from one DNA site to another by a type of genetic recombination called transposition. The impact of transposition on genome stability and human health is immense. Many transposible elements can insert into essentially any DNA sequence and are thus a common source of mutations and genome rearrangments. The rapid spread of antibiotic resistance genes is largely a result of transposable elements moving throughout bacterial populations. Furthermore, retroviruses, including HIV, integrate into the host chromosome via a mechanism nearly identical to transposition.