Description:

Erik Andersen, Assistant Professor, Dept. of Molecular Biosciences

Abstract
Humans differ in their susceptibilities to cancer, diabetes, and other common diseases because of each individual’s unique genetic makeup and the effects of their particular environment. My laboratory uses classical, quantitative, and molecular genetics in the roundworm Caenorhabditis elegans to identify the genes that vary within populations. The identities of these genes and the mechanisms for how they cause phenotypic differences are of critical importance to understand how individuals vary in disease susceptibilities and drug responses. The nematode is a powerful experimental platform for many reasons, including its high-level of conservation with humans, its ease of manipulation, a powerful genetic and genomic toolkit, a large wild strain collection that contains variation comparable to that of humans, and the ability to connect gene function to tissues and cells in an intact organism. In addition to genetics, we use new sequencing technologies, high-throughput phenotyping assays, and other genomic tools to determine the molecular mechanisms for how genetic variation causes phenotypic differences. The laboratory has broad research interests, such as responses to chemotherapeutic and anthelmintic drugs, behavioral adaptations to microbial stresses, fat accumulation and storage, and aging- related processes. These traits are regulated by conserved pathways that when altered by genetic variation result in diseases like autoimmune disorders, cancer, and diabetes in humans. These studies will ultimately provide data that are essential for more accurate disease prediction and diagnosis along with more personalized treatments.