Gray CrouseProfessor Emeritus

Education

• B.S., Duke University, 1970

   

• Ph.D., Harvard University, 1976

Research Area

• Genetics, Cell, and Developmental Biology

Graduate Program Affiliation

• Genetics and Molecular Biology

Research Description

Research in my lab centers on DNA mutagenesis and repair in eukaryotic cells. We are particularly interested in oxidative damage to DNA, as it is among the most common types of damage and is implicated in major areas of concern, such as aging and cancer. We focus on the DNA mismatch repair system (MMR), which has been of great interest since the discovery of its central role in preventing colon cancer in humans, and we have shown its central role in preventing mutation due to oxidative damage.

We use yeast as a model organism because of its genetic tractability and the similarity of its mutation and repair processes to those of bigger eukaryotes. We are currently using short oligonucleotides containing defined sites of oxidative damage to introduce this damage directly into the yeast genome and study the processing of that damage in a chromosomal context.

Research Lab Description

We study processes that cause DNA damage and mutation in the cell, and processes that repair the damage before it can cause mutations. Our particular interest is in oxidative damage and we use that most perfect of model organisms, yeast.