Wendy Bickmore Research Group

Research in a Nutshell

Despite its immense length, the linear sequence map of the human genome is an incomplete description of our genetic information. This is because genome function and regulation is also impacted by the way that DNA sequence is folded up with proteins within chromosomes and within the nucleus. Our work tries to understand the three-dimensional folding of the genome, and how this controls how our genome functions in normal development and how this may be perturbed in disease. 

We take a multidisciplinary approach, using cytological, genetic, genomic and biochemical methods, as well as animal models, to understand genome spatial organisation and how it contributes to gene regulation. A prominent feature of our work is the use of visual assays to investigate how the genome is folded up. 

We examine the spatial organisation of chromosomes and genes in the nucleus and how this organisation is changed, for example, during development and in certain genetic diseases. We use microscopy to follow the folding path of specific gene loci as they are activated or switched off, and to identify the proteins that bring about this folding. We also use the tools of engineering biology to artificially control the expression or silencing of genes, to test our hypotheses.

• Jef Boeke, NYU Langholm health, USA
• Ferenc Mueller, University of Birmingham
• Patrick Cai, University of Manchester
• Cees Dekker, TU Delft, The Netherlands
• Benjamin Rowland, Netherlands Cancer Institute
• Leonid Mirny, MIT/Curie Institute, Paris

• MRC
• BBSRC
• ERC