Alex Gao

Nature has created many powerful biomolecules that are hidden in organisms across kingdoms of life. Many of these biomolecules originate from microbes, which contain the most diverse gene pool among living organisms. We are integrating high-throughput computational and experimental approaches to harness the vast diversity of genes in microbes to develop new antibiotics and molecular biotechnology, and to investigate the evolution of proteins and molecular mechanisms in innate immunity.

Florentine Rutaganira

Dr. Rutaganira uses choanoflagellates—the closest living single-celled relatives to animals—to study the origin of animal cell communication. Dr. Rutaganira applies chemical, genetic, and cell biological tools to probe choanoflagellate cell-cell communication, with implications for understanding not only animal cell signaling, but also the origin of multicellularity in animals.

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