Dan Xie
Advisor's Name:
Leifu Chang
Email Address:
Training Group:
Biomolecular Structure and Biophysics
Research Summary:
My research focuses on transposon related proteins. Insertion sequences of IS200/IS605 and IS607 families are among the simplest mobile genetic elements and often carry a tnpb gene. Biochemical and structural research has demonstrated that TnpB functions as the RNA-guided nucleases and can be adopted as a new class of genome editing tools. SisTnpB is a newly discovered protein from a thermophilic archaea. The project is to understand the biological function and structure of sisTnpB. I will use E. coli expression system to generate sisTnpB protein. Cryo-EM will be performed to detect the architecture of RNA-guided nuclease system.
Why did you choose to attend PULSe:
The diverse training groups are the most important reason for me to join PULSe. I had opportunities to rotate in different labs from multiple disciplines. This allows me to make connections between ideas as well as think from multiple perspectives.