Laboratory of Biochemical Genetics (LBG)

	Central and Peripheral Nervous system of Drosophila stage 16 embryo stained with mAb 22C10 antibody and Fluorescent Dye Alexa 488.

Marshall Nirenberg, MD, Principal Investigator

Welcome to the Laboratory of Biochemical Genetics. The Laboratory is an intramural research program within the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute in Bethesda Maryland. The Chief of the Laboratory is Marshall Nirenberg, Ph.D.

Basic problems in molecular biology and biochemistry are studied, especially molecular mechanisms that regulate gene expression during embryonic development. Current research focuses on:

1. Characterizing DNA clones that correspond to novel mouse or Drosophila homeobox genes,
   
   
2. Defining neuron specific enhancer nucleotide sequences and corresponding DNA binding proteins in DNA cloned from transgenic Drosophila lines that were generated by P element transposition,
   
   
3. Defining mouse genomic DNA sequences that regulate gene transcription,
   
   
4. Identifying regulatory sequences in cloned DNA that correspond to a gene for an a-subunit of an L-type voltage- sensitive calcium channel from rat brain, and
   
   
5. Studying mechanisms that regulate DNA replication and cell division in mouse cells