Howard Liber, Ph.D
Professor

There are three major research projects ongoing in the laboratory, all of which explore mechanisms of spontaneous and radiation-induced mutagenesis in human cells. One project investigates how the genetic background of the cell affects the quantitative yield and the qualitative nature of gene mutations. The second investigates how DNA double strand breaks formed within a specific gene lead to mutations of that gene. The third is a collaborative study with the University of Washington in Seattle that focuses on how changes in telomeres, which cap the ends of chromosomes, may be involved in processes by which cells become genetically unstable.