Teaching

Current courses: 

Cell Biology (Biology 485)

Molecular Biology Projects Lab (Biology 305)

Biology I – Molecular and Cellular Biology (Biology 161,171)

Research

Chromosomal dynamics have been of interest to Dr. DuBois since she began reading the newspaper as a child.  The basic organization of genes and stability and inheritance of chromosomes within single-celled organisms have provided complicated enough questions to keep her busy for years in research.  Initially the bizarre organization of genes and developmental relationship between the micronucleus and macronucleus of ciliated protozoa caught her attention and led to an evolutionary analysis of scrambled genes among a group of ciliates. Later, an interest in the components that are responsible for the protection of the chromosomal end against degradation and recombination led to the development of a quantitative assay to characterize these components in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.  Current research has taken advantage of molecular genetics in budding yeast to characterize various mutations in DNA repair and chromatin remodeling pathways.  Comparisons of different yeast behaviors in porters and stouts also have been analyzed, sometimes in float conditions.  As discussed in her cell biology course, the choice of model organism is key to doing the appropriate experiment in order to answer certain scientific questions.