Wallace Marshall, PhD
Our lab is interested in the engineering design principles that underlie morphogenesis at the cellular level. We want to understand how the three-dimensional geometry of cells can be encoded in a one-dimensional genome and developed into varying cellular architectures under genetic control. We are investigating this question at the level of individual organelles (centrioles, cilia, and mitochondria) as well as through studies of the overall architecture of cells. We are particularly interested in the control of organelle size and copy number, and in the role of biological self-replication processes. Our lab uses a combination of genomic, proteomic, imaging, and mathematical modeling approaches. Recently we have begun a major new effort to understand pattern formation and regeneration at the single-cell level using the giant ciliate Stentor coeruleus, which is allowing us to take a genomics-based approach to understanding the developmental biology of single cells.
2/16/21 Three Truths and Three Tries: Facing and Overcoming Critical Social Justice Challenges at the Micro, Mezzo, and Macro Levels