Molecular Microbiology & Immunology

The research program of the lab involves understanding the fundamental structure and function relationships of RNases H with the long term goals of a) unmasking novel nucleic acid metabolic functions associated with the enzymes and b) understanding their placement in the replicative life cycle of the pathogenic protozoan Trypanosoma brucei. Trypanosomes are amongst the earliest branching eukaryotes and are the models in which RNA editing and trans-splicing were initially discovered. Accordingly, they are well suited for our studies.