How do mechanical forces in DNA shape gene dynamics and cell fate?

Figure: Time-lapse fluorescence microscopy reveals two genes generate distinct phenotypes in E. coli MG1655K12 bacteria when gene order and direction are shuffled on circular DNA.

Lab Overview

We study how variation in mechanical forces in DNA and genetic architecture enable feedback control in living organisms. We seek to understand the central role of physical properties of DNA, e.g., supercoiling, writhing, and DNA compaction, in regulating cell fate, biological computation, and memory within single cells and populations of cells.

We employ a broad range of methods to study these questions, drawing from methods in DNA biophysics, in vivo synthetic biology, in vitro cell-free lysate methods, multi-omics science, systems biology, microfluidics, control theory, dynamical systems theory, and machine learning.

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