The Balasubramanian Lab

Our lab seeks to explore and understand the chemistry, structure and function of nucleic acids.  To do this we use experimental approaches ranging from chemistry to molecular biology and genomics. We are interested in the incidence and potential causal role(s) of four-stranded DNA secondary structures called G-quadruplexes that form in G-rich regions of the human genome.  Current data suggests these secondary structures may mark or regulate the transcriptional status of genes and we are interested in understanding the associated molecular mechanisms.  Another area of investigation is the enzyme-mediated, chemical modification of DNA nucleobases in the genome where we are looking to understanding their capacity to differentially recruit proteins and contribute to genome function. While we are problem driven, our research goals have, sometimes incidentally, inspired the development of new methodologies along the way which include next generation DNA sequencing, and methods to sequence DNA modifications and secondary structures.