Department of Genetics

The Department of Genetics consists of 21 research groups headed by University Teaching Officers and Senior Fellows. The majority of the groups are located in the main building on the Downing Site. However, a few groups affiliated to the Department are housed in the Gurdon Institute or in the newly-created Wellcome Trust Centre for Stem Cell Research and the Cambridge Systems Biology Centre. The groups cover a wide range of interests, summarised below, and with links to group webpages.

Please note that the listings on the left, which comply with the School of Biological Sciences subject groupings, and which appear as standard links on all our 'research' pages, do not exactly correspond to the Department's subject listings below.

Systems Biology : Functional Genomics and Bioinformatics

The post-genomic era has led to development in the field of informatics and a variety of disciplines devoted to making use of high-throughput techniques for data generation - principally genomic and proteomic. The Department is at the forefront of the fields of bioinformatics, functional genomics, and the development of genetic databases. There are strong links with proteomics and structural biology groups in the Department of Biochemistry. Several groups are developing tools for functional genomics, as illustrated by the genome-wide RNAi screen of C. elegans [Ahringer Lab] and the protein trap screens in Drosophila [Russell Lab, St.Johnston Lab]. The use of high-throughput genomic approaches in moden biology is becoming all-pervasive, and over the past few years the Department has continued to build up its strengths in Drosophila genomics and bioinformatics [Ashburner Lab, Russell Lab, Micklem Lab, Adryan Lab].

Developmental Biology

This represents a large area of international research strength. The Department has had a tradition of excellence in Drosophila genetics, which has underpinned the analysis of developmental processes in recent years. Members of the Department have featured prominently in these advances. In recent years Developmental Biology has been in a state of transition, and is becoming increasingly cellular in its focus and analytical methods. This is reflected in the research of several groups in the main Department [Martinez Arias Lab, O'Kane Lab, Furner Lab] and in the Gurdon Institute [St.Johnston Lab, Ahringer Lab]. The topics of interest range from the role of cell signalling and gene regulation in cell fate assignments and pattern formation in Drosophila [Adryan, St.Johnston, Martinez Arias, O'Kane] to the analysis of chromatin modifications during development in plants [Furner], C. elegans [Ahringer] and in Drosophila [Russell].

Cell Biology

The major topic of interest is the cell division cycle. Cancer Research UK provides the major support in this area, although substantial funding also comes from other sources. Thus there is a critical mass of internationally-recognised groups studying aspects of cell division and chromosome biology in the main Department [Glover Lab, Farr Lab, Segal Lab, Draviam Lab], as well as cell growth and differentiation in the Stem Cell Institute [Watt Lab].

Microbial Genetics

The Department hosts microbial research groups working on E. coli [Summers Lab] and yeast [Segal Lab]. Research in the areas of the cell cycle, signalling, intracellular communication, and novel cell factories. Productive research collaborations have been established with both academic and industrial partners. The outcomse from this research include a series of patents and a spin-off company, Cambridge Microbial Technologies.

Evolution and Population Genetics

Classical evolution and population genetics are complemented by approaches using DNA polymorphisms to study aspects of population genetics. Work at the interface between population genetics and molecular evolution has built a bridge between the Department's strengths in genomics and evolutionary genetics. We are keen to build upon the opportunities which the Department provides for cross-fertilisation between traditionally disparate aspects of the subject. There are two labs working within this subject area currently - the Jiggins Lab and the Welch Lab

A full alphabetical list of groups in the Department is available HERE

Page updated 11 November 2010