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Genetics
Research interests in the Washington University Department of Genetics include the basic molecular and developmental genetics of model eukaryotic systems, as well as the mapping and identification of genes responsible for important human hereditary diseases.
Genome research is a major focus of the Department. One of the largest genome centers in the world, the Washington University Genome Sequencing Center, is part of the Department.
The department is strongly interdisciplinary, with expertise that ranges from molecular biology and classical genetics, to the engineering of new tools and machines for genome analysis, to the development of computer algorithms and software for analyzing DNA and protein sequences.
Most graduate students in the Department are admitted through the Division of Biology and Biomedical Sciences. Some students may also be admitted through the Biomedical Engineering Program in the School of Engineering.
| News Stories & Tip Sheets: |
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Duck-billed DNA
Platypus genome explains animal's peculiar features; holds clues to evolution of mammals
May 7,
2008 --
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| Nicole Duplaix/Getty Images |
| The platypus genome explains the creature's fascinating features, from mammals, reptiles and birds. |
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The duck-billed platypus: part bird, part reptile, part mammal — and the genome to prove it. An international consortium of scientists, led by the School of Medicine, has decoded the genome of the platypus, showing that the animal's peculiar mix of features is reflected in its DNA. An analysis of the genome, published today in the journal Nature, can help scientists piece together a more complete picture of the evolution of all mammals, including humans.
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DNA Day fun
Sixth-graders get a lesson in strawberry DNA
April 29,
2008 -- DNA sequencing has led scientists to map the human genome and could take them to huge advancements in medicine — possibly diagnosing and preventing disease. But Alex Heerman just wanted to create some deadly fruit. Heerman and his fellow McKinley Middle School sixth-graders learned how to extract DNA from strawberries during a demonstration by Latricia Wallace, outreach coordinator for the Genome Center at Washington University.
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Those remarkable molecules
University Celebrates National DNA Day
April 17,
2008 -- National DNA Day is April 25. The day celebrates a most remarkable molecule, one that holds the instructions for life: DNA. DNA Day was created in 2003 to commemorate the completion of the Human Genome Project and the 50th anniversary of James Watson's and Francis Crick's discovery of DNA's double helical structure. Washington University played a key role in the Human Genome Project, an international effort to assemble in order the 3 billion letters that make up the genetic code.
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| Faculty Experts: |
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David Gutmann, M.D., Ph.D.
Donald O. Schnuck Family Professor of Neurology
Gutmann is the founder and director of the Neurofibromatosis Clinical Program, which is dedicated to treating the common inherited tumor predisposition syndrome, neurofibromatosis (NF). Individuals with NF have an increased risk of developing brain tumors and other cancers. As national leader in the ...
Expertise: Brain tumors, cancer genetics, neurofibromatosis, molecular genetics, neurosciences, neurology
Media assistance: (314) 286-0122 / purdym@wustl.edu
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Alan Templeton
Professor of Biology in Arts & Sciences
Templeton applies molecular genetic techniques and statistical population genetics to a variety of problems in evolutionary and conservation biology. He explores natural selection in various species, genetic variability, the role of lipid metabolic genes in coronary artery disease in humans, and the ...
Expertise: evolution of HIV, evolutionary and conservation biology, genetic variability, lipid metabolic genes, molecular genetics, natural selection
Direct contact: (314) 935-6868
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temple_a@biology.wustl.edu
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Alison M. Goate
Professor of Genetics and Psychiatry
A professor of genetics in psychiatry, Alison Goate is a molecular geneticist who discovered the first genetic mutation that causes a form of Alzheimer's disease.
Expertise: Alzheimer's disease, amyloid, genetics, psychiatry, genetic mutation, amyloid-beta, disease-causing mutations
Media assistance: (314) 286-0110 / jdryden@wustl.edu
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Paul Goodfellow
Professor of Surgery
The Goodfellow laboratory is investigating the genetic alterations that underlie development of uterine endometrial cancers. Endometrial cancer is the most common gynecologic malignancy in the United States. Like many cancers, uterine endometrial cancers are hormonally- responsive tumors. The genetic ...
Expertise: Cancer genetics, cancer, DNA, genetics, gene expression
Media assistance: (314) 286-0141 / ericsong@wustl.edu
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Howard McLeod
director of the pharmacology core at the Siteman Cancer Center
There is a high degree of variation in patient response to medicines. The McLeod laboratory uses genetic tools to perform in vitro, ex vivo, and clinical evaluations to discover, validate, and apply molecular predictors of therapeutic outcome. This includes candidate gene and genome-wide human association ...
Expertise: pharmacogenetics, pharmacology, translational research, tumor markers, chemotherapy
Media assistance: (314) 286-0141 / ericsong@wustl.edu
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Which Genetic Tests are Really Worth Getting?
The Wall Street Journal
May 1,
2008 -- With Congress poised to eliminate a big barrier to genetic testing for risk of certain diseases, consumers still face challenges in figuring out which ones offer useful information.
Despite heavy marketing by some genetic-test makers, the wide use of genetic tests has been held back by a variety of factors, including questions about the tests' usefulness and concerns that results could be used by employers and insurers to discriminate against people. Critics argue that many tests can't accurately identify which people are at risk for various illnesses.
WUSTL medical researcher Brian Gage comments.
Includes Web links to learn more about genetic testing.
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The roots of alcoholism . . . in the genes?
Los Angeles Times
April 30,
2008 -- WUSTL psychiatry professor and lead author Carolyn Sartor comments on a new WUSTL study that says: Young people often begin drinking alcohol because of environmental factors, such as peer pressure. But genes appear to be a significant factor in determining whether drinking progresses to problem drinking and alcoholism.
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May We Scan Your Genome?
Newsweek
April 22,
2008 -- As personal genetic testing takes off, some worry that marketing is getting ahead of science.
With each new marketing push comes new criticism. Some say DNA testing doesn't belong in virtual clinics: One key issue is regulation.
WUSTL pediatrics and genetics specialist Thomas Morgan worries that the business is getting ahead of the science. "I might scare myself or reassure myself falsely based on the very limited knowledge that we have."
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Genetic Link Tied to Smoking Addiction
Associated Press
and 256 others
April 3,
2008 -- The discovery by three separate teams of scientists makes the strongest case so far for the biological underpinnings of nicotine addiction and sheds more light on how genetics and lifestyle habits join forces to cause cancer.
This finding could someday lead to screening tests and customized treatments for smokers trying to kick the habit.
"This is really telling us that the vulnerability to smoking and how much you smoke is clearly biologically based," said WUSTL psychiatry professor Laura Bierut, a genetics and smoking expert who did not take part in the studies. She praised the research as "very intriguing."
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Group says it has mapped corn genome
Associated Press
and 76 others
Feb. 26,
2008 -- Richard Wilson, director of WUSTL's Genome Sequencing Center, comments on the successful mapping of the corn genome.
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Affiliated with Barnes-Jewish Hospital and St. Louis Children's Hospital, members of BJC HealthCare.
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