Graduate Research & Training
UKRI MRC Human Genetics Unit

Manipulating Chromosomes to Prevent Errors in Mammalian Meiosis

Supervisor: Professor Ian Adams

Ian Adams research image

Inheriting the wrong number of chromosomes is one of the most common types of human genetic disease. These inherited aneuploidies arise particularly frequently in the oocytes of older mothers, and are typically caused by a failure to generate or maintain physical links between homologous chromosomes during meiosis. However, the molecular mechanisms involved in generating linked pairs of meiotic chromosomes then maintaining the resulting structures, usually for decades in human oocytes, remain poorly understood in mammals. We will use gene-edited mice and super-resolution imaging to build on our recent findings identifying new pathways involved in these processes with a view to manipulating the structure of meiotic chromosomes and chromosome-associated proteins to reduce chromosome segregation errors and prevent aneuploidies from arising in meiosis.

Ian Adams Research Group