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 HiT Center
| Jef Boeke - Dr. Boeke is the founding director of the HiT Center. A yeast geneticist by training, he and his colleagues are building a map of all gene-gene interactions in the simple brewer's yeast cell. The data from this massive genome-wide experiment will help identify the functions of the proteins encoded by yeast and the pathways in which they participate. This project will identify possible gene-gene interactions underlying human health and disease, because yeast, though it is a microorganism, is surprisingly similar to humans |  |
in important ways. The laboratory is also developing retrotransposons as powerful tools for the functional analysis of genes and genomes. More information on the Microarray Facility
Visit the Li Lab
Dr. Li is trained in neuroscience and biophysics and is founding director of the ChemCore robotic screening center at the HiT Center. His studies of ion channels have led to development of a screen that uses yeast cells to functionally express mammalian cardiac ion channels that rescue engineered genetic defects in yeast and permit conditional growth. By selecting a simple growth phenotype, very large chemical libraries can be |  |
screened to identify compounds that interact with ion channel proteins, revealing both channel agonists and antagonists. More information on ChemCore
| Joel Bader - Dr. Bader, a physicist and mathematician with a strong interest in genomics and proteomics, is collaborating with Boeke and others on interpreting the complex map of gene-gene interactions in yeast. His group has worked extensively on networks of protein-protein interactions in yeast and fruit flies. |  |
Dr. Blackshaw, trained in molecular neuroscience, has catalogued all of the messenger RNAs expressed during development of the mouse retina. He is interested in functionally characterizing the network of genes that control specification of different cell types within this well characterized neural structure. He plans ultimately to extend these studies to an understanding of more elaborate brain structures, such as the hypothalamus, that are also critical regulators of behavior.
- Dr. Zhu is a pioneer proteomics technologist who co-invented protein microarray technology. He is developing new methods to fabricate and use these arrays, and developing new types of arrays. Dr. Zhu is applying these microarrays to deciphering the complex networks and pathways of post-translational modifications that pervade |  |
biology. He is also creating virus protein chips with many uses in diagnostics and basic research.
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