Dr. Bradley Merrill is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine. He is also the Director of Genome Editing Core, Co-Director of Graduate Education in Medical Sciences Program and Core Leader of Cancer Genomics. His research is focused on embryogenesis, pluripotency, Wnt/-catenin signaling and genome editing. Dr. Merrill PhD dissertation research was on the interaction between homologous recombination repair pathways and DNA synthesis proteins. He left scientifically enriched with the ability and perspective on how to use mutations, selection, and genetic screens as primary tools to interrogate a biological topic. He was able to take the lessons he learned from yeast, in particular the use of mutations to define a proteins function, and apply them to the mouse using tools. In his own group at UIC, he has continued down the same path and used analysis of mutants and effects of mutations on protein function as the core of his groups research. His group started using CRISPR/Cas9 in 2013. It worked extremely well for them, and it essentially has changed the way they are doing experiments. There is a certain dynamic that emerges once it becomes easy to make mutations in a system. He has found that he is now thinking about experiments with mammalian cells similar to his yeast genetics days. His research is focused on embryogenesis, pluripotency, Wnt/B-catenin signaling and genome editing. Medicine Innovates featured article: Developing a new gene-editing tool
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