Opportunity Details

Details about the opportunity you selected and the mentor are shown below. It is your responsibility to contact the mentor to discuss collaborating with them this summer. If your mentor invites you to submit an application, you can access that from the front page of this site. Upon completion of the application, it will be sent to the mentor for approval before being passed on to the Summer Scholar Selection Committee, which will make the decisions.

Faculty Information
	Mitch McVey
	mitch.mcvey@tufts.edu
	Assistant professor
	P: (617) 627-4196
	F: (617) 627-3085
Address:
	Biology department 165 Packard Avenue Dana 024
	Medford, MA 02155

Opportunity:

DNA double-strand break repair in Drosophila

Summary:

DNA double-strand breaks are particularly difficult lesions for cells to repair. Unrepaired breaks often result in cell death by apoptosis, while incorrect repair can be an initial event in the development of cancer or age-related diseases. My lab uses Drosophila as a model system to study molecular mechanisms of DNA repair. Currently, we are focusing on an error-prone pathway called non-homologous end joining. We take advantage of a system in which we can generate well-defined breaks at known sites in the genome and apply a wide range of molecular genetic techniques to search for genes involved in the end-joining pathway.

Contact Via:

E-mail

What is the timeframe for this research opportunity?

8-10 weeks full-time during the summer. Opportunities are available to continue the research during the academic year.

Prerequisities for students?

A course in BIO41 (genetics) or the equivalent. Enthusiasm for research

Responsibilities for students?

Students will conduct independent research, present their findings at group meetings, and function as part of a research team.

Area(s) of Research:

genetics

molecular biology

DNA repair

Drosophila development

aging