We study the role of chromatin regulation in cell fate decisions.
Each one of us began life as a single cell. In our lab, we study how the genetic information carried in that single cell is used to generate the hundreds of different kinds of cells that make us human.
Image by Yifan Xu. Localization of H3.3 nucleosomes (green spheres) is controlled by distinct factors at specific genomic regions. At genes and a subset of regulatory elements (right), the histone chaperone Hira (man in red jacket) controls H3.3 localization. At telomeres and other repeat regions (left), the histone chaperone Daxx (man in white jacket) controls deposition of H3.3.
Conrad Waddington’s “Epigenetic Landscape” - 1957
May Day by Shepard Fairey, Houston Street and Bowery Graffiti Mural Wall, New York, iPhone snapshot - 2010