My lab studies the "dark matter" of the genome: repetitive, non-coding sequences that were originally considered to be "junk" but are now known to play important roles in genome structure and function. We are particularly interested in transposable elements (TEs), so-called "jumping genes" that selfishly hijack their host genome's machinery to make copies of themselves. Host genomes have in turn evolved sophisticated silencing mechanisms to identify TEs and suppress their activity. On the other hand, there are many fascinating examples of TEs serving beneficial roles for their host. We use both computational and wet lab approaches to better understand the multi-faceted nature of TE-host interactions and how these dynamics affect genome structure and function.
Program Faculty
- Christopher Ellison
- Associate Professor
- Department: Department of Genetics
- Graduate Program(s): Microbiology and Molecular Genetics
- Major Research Interest(s): Computational Biology, Epigenetics/ Chromatin, Evolution, Reproduction and Gametogenesis
- Research Techniques: Bioinformatics / Computational, Genetics, Genomics, Single Cell RNA Techniques, Transcriptomics
- Research Organism(s): Drosophila
- Phone: 1.8484452812
- Email:
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. - School of Arts and Sciences
- Division of Life Sciences
- Nelson Biology Laboratories, Room B420
- 604 Allison Road
- Piscataway, NJ 08854-8000
- Key Words: Computational Biology, Genomics, and Molecular Genetics
- Lab Site URL