Molecular Genetics & Genomics

Advances in genetics and genomics over the past two decades have revolutionized our understanding of development, homeostasis, and disease and ushered in a new era of personalized medicine. Much remains, however, to be learned about fundamental genetic, genomic, and epigenetic mechanisms and how alterations to these processes perturb development and homeostasis and lead to disease, such as cancer and neurological disorders. For example, how are specific genes turned on in defined cell types to drive specific outcomes and how does perturbation to regulated gene expression lead to disease, such as cancer and neurodevelopmental disorders? How do seemingly identical cells employ distinct genetic regulatory networks to create the diversity of cell types found in our body and brain? How do coding and non-coding mutations alter gene function and drive evolution and disease? How can we leverage powerful new genetic tools to cure disease? Uncovering answers to these fundamental questions places genetics and genomics at the forefront of biomedical research and the quest to clarify the genetic and genomic regulatory mechanisms that normally control organismal development and homeostasis, but when perturbed drive disease.

Laboratories in the Molecular Genetics and Genomics (MGG) program leverage forward and reverse genetics and genomic and computational approaches to address key outstanding questions in all areas of biomedical research with a focus on human disease. Integrating wet and dry bench approaches, students in the MGG program advance our understanding of the genetic, cellular, and molecular basis of how cells, tissues, and organs develop and function and how alterations in these processes lead to disease. MGG laboratories at WashU have been at the vanguard of human molecular genetics, the Human Genome Project, and in developing new genetic and genomic technologies that clarify how genetic changes alter gene function. MGG laboratories further apply these methods across many areas, including cancer biology, neuroscience, developmental biology, and more. Students interested in leveraging the power of genetic and genomic approaches to learn about fundamental biological mechanism and their application to human biology will find scores of laboratories within the program in which to pursue their doctoral research.