Carl Johnson
Organisms and even single cells have endogenous biological “clocks” that allow them to tell the time of day. Research in our laboratory is directed towards understanding the cellular and molecular bases of these fascinating timing mechanisms in a variety of organisms: bacteria, plants, and animals. Another major emphasis is understanding the evolution of these clocks by studying the fitness advantage conferred by these clocks, as well as experimentally evolving clocks in cells that don’t already have them! We cover many fields in this quest: biochemistry, neurobiology, biophysics, microbiology, evolutionary biology, and genetics.
Organisms and even single cells have endogenous biological “clocks” that allow them to tell the time of day. Research in our laboratory is directed towards understanding the cellular and molecular bases of these fascinating timing mechanisms in a variety of organisms: bacteria, plants, and animals. Another major emphasis is understanding the evolution of these clocks by studying the fitness advantage conferred by these clocks, as well as experimentally evolving clocks in cells that don’t already have them! We cover many fields in this quest: biochemistry, neurobiology, biophysics, microbiology, evolutionary biology, and genetics.
Keywords: Circadian Rhythms , Bioluminescence Resonance Energy Transfer (BRET) , Kai , Luciferase , Angelman Syndrome , Biological Clocks
Research Area: Biophysics , Bacteriology , Cell Signaling , Developmental Neuroscience , Evolution