Where do Genes Come From?
dnorris10 December 1st, 2006
Dean Fraga, associate professor of biology at The College of Wooster, will present “Where do genes come from? Developing Model Systems to Explore how New Gene Functions Evolve” at the final Faculty at Large lecture of the fall semester on Tuesday, Nov. 28, at 11 a.m. The lecture, which is free and open to the public, begins at 11 a.m. in Room 009 of Severance (Chemistry) Hall (943 College Mall).All organisms have a ”genetic blueprint,” or genome, that helps determine their appearance and behavior, according to Fraga. The genome is composed of a large number of genes whose combined action determines the unique aspects of each species. Even the simplest organisms have thousands of genes, and this number can reach even higher counts in the more complex organisms (tens of thousands of genes). Fraga will address such questions as “Where did these genes come from?” and “How do genes evolve and acquire new functions?”
“An understanding of the evolution of genes and gene functions will help us to understand how the diversity of life we see around us arose, and may help us design new protein functions in the future,” said Fraga. “I will explore this topic and the use of two model systems I am now using at the College to try to understand how new genes arise and how they acquire new biochemical or physiological functions.”
Fraga, a member of the Wooster faculty since 1994, specializes in molecular biology, genetics, and the use of antisense/RNAi technology to control gene expression. His research has appeared in scientific articles that have been published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, the Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology, and Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. A member of the Society of Protozoologists and the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Fraga has received research grants from the National Institute of Health (NIH), the National Science Foundation (NSF), and the American Cancer Society. His most recent award from NSF was a collaborative research grant with faculty in Wooster’s chemistry department to study the evolution of structure-function relationships in the phosphagen kinase protein family.