2016 Faculty Research Lecture

The 50th Annual Faculty Research Lecture was  given by Professor Susan Strome on Friday, September 25, 2015. Click here to listen to the lecture.

Beyond the DNA Code: Transmission of Developmental Instructions from Parents to Offspring

Professor Susan Strome studies germ cells, which are the progenitors of sperm and eggs and of future generations of organisms. A fundamental challenge in developmental biology has been the identification of mechanisms and genes that instruct a cell in the developing embryo to become a germ cell, as opposed to becoming a cell that contributes to the body (soma) of the organism. Throughout her career, Professor Strome has studied how germ cells arise in the embryo and how they maintain their ability to self-renew. Using nematodes as a model organism, she has identified genes that determine whether a cell becomes a germ cell or a body (somatic) cell.