Nucleic Acid Biology

Carnegie Mellon University biologists and chemists (John Woolford, A. Javier Lopez, David Hackney, Subha R. Das and Kausik Chakrabarti) are engaged in understanding how genetic information is converted from genomic deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) into protein, focusing on the various steps of gene expression, including transcription as well as the subsequent editing, splicing and translation of the ribonucleic acid (RNA).

Computer scientist Adrien Treuille uses online crowdsourcing methods to develop algorithms for RNA folding, while Michael Widom of the Physics Department is using computational methods to understand RNA folding and function.

Patricia Lynn Opresko studies the effects of DNA damage induced by environmental toxins such as ultraviolet light on telomere biology. Alex Evilevitch studies the physics of DNA packaging into viral capsids. These efforts are often supported by collaborations with members of the Molecular and Experimental Tools subgroup.