**PLEASE NOTE – the deadline for requesting a funding pack from Darwin Trust has now passed and completed funding applications must be submitted to Darwin Trust by 19th January. We can still accept applications for this project from self-funding students.
Genes must be passed on accurately from cell to cell and from parents to children. Failure to do so can be a cause or contributing factor in human illnesses, such as cancer or reproductive/birth defects. During cell division, DNA are packaged into chromosomes and the spindle made of microtubules is assembled to segregate the chromosomes. The chromosome segregation machineries in two types of divisions, mitosis and meiosis, share common regulation and mechanism but have critical differences. The project aims to understand the molecular differences between mitosis and female meiosis in how the chromosome segregation machinery is built. More specifically, the project can look into one of the following topics: spatial and temporal control of kinesins/microtubule-associated proteins by phosphorylation/ubiquitination, chromosome regulation by histone modifications and epigenetics, or kinetochore-microtubule interaction. The student will use genomic and proteomic approaches to identify proteins in these processes in Drosophila. Functional studies using genetic analysis and in vivo RNAi will be carried out, and protein interaction and regulation will be further studied. During the course of PhD study, the student will use a combination of various approaches to tackle the question, which include biochemistry, genetics, bioinformatics, modelling and microscopy. The student will use their initiative to develop and run their own project independently through close interaction with colleagues and the supervisor.
Information on the lab, research and publications can be found at http://ohkura.bio.ed.ac.uk.
The School of Biological Sciences is committed to Equality & Diversity: https://www.ed.ac.uk/biology/equality-and-diversity
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