BIOCHEMISTRY

Biochemical and Genetic Characterization of Factors that Influence Branchsite Selection in Yeast

“The spliceosome has a difficult job to do in the cell, and it must do its job with great precision” says Tucker Carrocci. The spliceosome is a molecular machine responsible for RNA splicing, an essential step in the expression of genes. Splicing is a process where non-coding sections of RNA are removed and the remaining protein-coding sections are stitched back together. Tucker has been using the model organism baker’s yeast to study how mutations in the splicing machinery change splicing patterns. These mutations lead to cancer and other diseases in humans.

Attend his Thesis Review at 1 p.m. on May 1 in the Hector F. DeLuca Biochemical Sciences Building to learn about his results.