The Genetics and Model Systems Program consists of eleven Center members: Drs. Amon, Bell, Horvitz, Hopkins, Jacks (Program Leader), Lander, Lees, Orr-Weaver, Solomon, and Weinberg. All members of this program are engaged in studying cancer and cancer-relevant processes using genetic systems. Moreover, these groups are pursuing numerous overlapping lines of investigation, and significant intellectual interaction and scientific collaboration serve to link the members of this Program. A major shared research activity of the Genetics and Model Systems Program is an integrated analysis of cell cycle regulation using classical genetic systems, including Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Caenorhabditis elegans, Drosophila melanogaster, Danio rerio, Mus musculus as well as cell-based experiments with normal and tumor-derived human cells. Other areas of common interest include the control of cell death and mitogenic signaling pathways. Important distinguishing features of the research in this Program are the focus on whole-organism approaches and the relationship between normal development and tumor development. Finally, several of the member laboratories are developing improved animal models of cancer to study aspects of tumor biology ranging from the genetics of initiation to metastatic progression. The development and validation of these models is greatly aided by recent advances in genome research and an array of post-genomic tools. In order to realize the goal of understanding the process of tumorigenesis in sufficient detail so as to rationally treat cancer or prevent its development, it will be necessary to elucidate the molecular basis of normal cell cycle regulation and other basic processes that are perturbed in the cancer cell. Through the study of these processes in model organisms as well as the creation of improved animal models of cancer, the Genetics and Model Systems Program is contributing significantly to the achievement of this goal.
Tyler Jacks, Program Leader
Angelika Amon
Stephen Bell
Nancy Hopkins
H. Robert Horvitz
Eric Lander
Jacqueline Lees
Terry Orr-Weaver
Frank Solomon
Robert Weinberg
