Dr. Tamar Resnick
Visiting Assistant Professor, Department of Biology
E-mail - resnick@stolaf.edu
Phone - 507-786-3272
Office - Regents Hall 386
developmental genetics in C. elegans, gene regulation and microRNAs
Ph.D. in biology at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MAClasses - Biology of Women, Cell Biology and Genetics
Research Interests
My research focuses on the regulation of developmental timing in the model organism C. elegans, a tiny roundworm. In this system, the heterochronic genes ensure that development proceeds properly through an intricate sequence of events, such that developmental programs are not skipped or repeated. Some of these regulatory genes are conserved in mammalian systems, where they play important roles in regulating stem cell identity and preventing tumor progression. In addition, the first-discovered microRNAs were identified as C. elegans heterochronic genes. microRNAs, which are ~22 nucleotide RNAs that target mRNAs through partial sequence complementarity and down-regulate them by message degradation or inhibition of translation, are now understood to be nearly ubiquitous. They are found throughout the animal and plant kingdoms and they play key roles in myriad biological processes. In my work, I use genetic and molecular biology approaches to examine the role of the let-7 family of microRNAs in developmental timing and to analyze the ways in which expression of these microRNAs is regulated.