home > TRiO and USP Programs > McNair > symposium > 2005 presentations > Eric Selker

Eric Selker, Mentor
Biology

Michelle Brown, McNair Scholar

Professor Eric Selker received his PhD from Stanford University in 1980 and joined the UO faculty in 1985. His lab, part of the Institute of Molecular Biology, focuses on DNA methylation and chromatin modifications. Core research in the lab focuses on "how the eukaryotic genome is structured, how it functions, and how it changes. Our current research is focused on gene silencing in eukaryotes. We are particularly interested in mechanisms involving special states of chromatin (e.g. heterochromatin)and DNA methylation." Recent publications include "Controlling DNA Methylation: Many Roads to One Modification," Current Opinion in Genetics and Development (2005); and "In Vitro and In Vivo Analyses of a phe/tyr Switch Controlling Product Specificity of Histone Lysine Methyltransferases," Journal of Biology and Chemistry (2005).