RESEARCH INTERESTS
We are interested in studying gene functions using Caenorhabditis elegans as an animal model system. C. elegans is an excellent model organism in laboratory to study gene functions since it has a short life cycle as 3 days from an egg to an adult and its genome has been completely sequenced. Developmental study on C. elegans is powerful because its cell lineage has been well confirmed. A genetic approach using C. elegans is also a powerful tool to study because it can be either hermaphrodite or male, and massive mutant library is well established. Most importantly, 74% of known human genes are also found in C. elegans and 40% of them have high similarities. Therefore, C. elegans is a good model system to study human gene functions by using its simplicity and other powerful tools for investigating gene functions. In our laboratory, we are currently focusing to three different projects:
1. Functional genomics of genes for germ-line proliferation in C. elegans<br /> 2. Functional genomics of cholesterol-related genes in C. elegans<br /> 3. Functional genomics of caffeine-induced genes in C. elegans