
Joel Eissenberg, Ph.D.
Professor
Mechanisms of gene activation and gene silencing as well as aspects of transcriptional regulation using Drosophila melanogaster.
Research Interests
Research in my lab concerns four aspects of transcriptional regulation: histone biotinylation and gene expression; transcriptional activation and chromatin remodeling; RNA polymerase elongation factors and gene regulation; and heterochromatin and gene regulation. We use the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, as a model to study mechanisms of gene activation and gene silencing.
Recent Publications
In Our Image: The Ethics of CRISPR Genome Editing
In Our Image: The Ethics of CRISPR Genome Editing
The advent of genome editing technology promises to transform human health, livestock and agriculture, and to eradicate pest species. This transformative power demands urgent scrutiny and resolution of the ethical conflicts attached to the creation and release of engineered genomes. Here, I discuss the ethics surrounding the transformative CRISPR/Cas9-mediated genome editing technology in the contexts of human genome editing to eradicate genetic disease and of gene drive technology to eradicate animal vectors of human disease.
Pushing the limit on laminopathies
Pushing the limit on laminopathies
Mutations to lamins in skeletal muscle cells have been shown to reduce nuclear stability, increase nuclear envelope rupture, and induce DNA damage and cell death. New research shows that limiting mechanical loads can rescue myofibre function and viability.
Pharmacogenomics: What the Doctor Ordered?
Pharmacogenomics: What the Doctor Ordered?
About half a million adverse drug reactions are reported in the US each year that result in disability, hospitalization or death. The efficacy or toxicity of a drug in a patient can be strongly influenced by their genetics as well as environment. Application of genomics to clinical pharmacology, “pharmacogenomics,” promises to transform patient care and health resource utilization in the coming decade.
The Brave New World of Gene Editing and Molecular Medicine
The Brave New World of Gene Editing and Molecular Medicine
Gene therapy has long been a promise of molecular biology. So far, that promise has largely been unrealized. The advent of gene editing using technology adapted from bacteria may finally usher in the era of gene therapy.
Working Out: The Molecular Biology of Exercise
Working Out: The Molecular Biology of Exercise
The many health benefits of exercise are well-known. Conversely, the pathologies associated with a sedentary lifestyle are also well-documented. However, science and medicine have only recently begun to explain how exercise does what it does. Here, I discuss recent insight into the biochemical mechanisms underlying the benefits of exercise and the pathologies of inactivity.