Research at the Merrill Lab
Each of the trillions of cells in your body is derived from a single stem cell, the fertilized egg. By dynamically responding to their cellular surroundings, the progeny of this stem cell follow the blueprint encoded by the genome to construct the basic structure of the body, to form tissues and organs, and to maintain physiological systems throughout your lifetime.
We are broadly interested in figuring out what drives cell fate decisions, and how these decisions are important for embryogenesis and stem cell maintenance in vivo. We have centered our efforts on the roles of a family of DNA-binding transcriptional regulators called Tcf/Lef factors. Tcf/Lef proteins can either activate or repress transcription of target genes depending upon the cohort of physically interacting proteins available to interact with a Tcf/Lef protein within a given cell. They can also affect cell fate decisions and cell lineages by recruiting histone modifying enzymes to binding sites in the genome.
Another emerging area of interest in the lab involves development of new technology related to CRISPR-Cas9 and genome editing. Generally, we are interested in genome editing at multiple levels, from the biophysical forces used by RNA-guided nucleases to the safety of genome editing based therapies. Development of new technologies complements our interests in development and stem cell biology, because we can use those genetic tools to answer new and interesting questions.
