Welcome

The Department of Molecular Genetics and Cell Biology - MGCB - was created in 1984 through the merger of the faculties of the Departments of Biology, Biochemistry, Biophysics and Theoretical Biology, and Microbiology. MGCB operates within the Division of Biological Sciences. Its faculty investigate molecular aspects of biological phenomena that operate on a cellular scale. The Department covers vital extensions of cell biology and genetics into related fields of biology, notably immunology, plant biology, development and microbiology. The Department currently represents research on a wide range of biological problems and systems - its internationally recognized strengths include:

1. invertebrate and vertebrate development
2. plant molecular biology
3. cellular structure and function
4. yeast genetics.

For graduate training, the department administers the Cell and Molecular Biology program in the Molecular Biosciences Graduate Training Program Cluster. The cluster combines five graduate programs: Cell and Molecular Biology, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Human Genetics, Genetics, Genomics and Systems Biology, and Developmental Biology. MGCB also plays key roles in the undergraduate biology curricula at the University.

The honors accorded to members of the faculty of the Department of Molecular Genetics and Cell Biology attest to the quality of their scholarship and research. Among the faculty are seven members of the National Academy of Sciences, one Fellow of the Royal Society, two members of the National Institute of Medicine, and nine Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Many of the faculty have been selected for advisory or editorial positions by national and international scientific organizations, including the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, The American Cancer Society, and The Leukemia Research Foundation.

 

MGCB News

Divide, Conquer
Michael Glotzer’s built-from-scratch biochemistry, and do-it-yourself genetics and microscopy, have revealed some of the secrets of cell division. The Scientist, December 2009

Sally Horne-Badovinac receives Basil O'Connor Young Investigator Award - March of Dimes - for grant proposal: "Genetic Analysis of planar polarity and organ shape", December 2009

10.15.09
MGCB has initiated a search for an Assistant Professor.

'Doug Bishop, PhD, Professor of Molecular Genetics and Cell Biology and of Radiation and Cellular Oncology, works to further his understanding of recombination in meiosis', The Scientist (2009), September, Volume 23, Issue 9, Page 48

Dr. Janet Rowley awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, our nation’s highest civilian honor, by President Barack Obama, August 12, 2009

Haselkorn Lecture 2009 (mp4)

Haselkorn Lecture 2008 (QuickTime Movie; 112 MB)

 

Administrative Information
(on-campus-only)

 

 


MGCB SEMINARS

 

JANUARY - FEBRUARY 2010

 

Tuesday, January 26, 2010
MGCB Seminar
Dean Dawson, PhD, Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation
'Pairing of non-homologous and homologous centromeres in meiosis: new explanations for old observations'
4:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Cummings Life Science Center, Room 101


Thursday, January 28, 2010
MGCB Seminar
Elio Abbondanzieri, Harvard University, MGCB faculty candidate
'Molecular Gymnastics: The Dynamic Binding Orientations of HIV Reverse Transcriptase'
4:00–5:00 PM
Cummings Life Science Center, Room 101

 

Monday, February 1, 2010
MGCB Seminar:
Mary Gehring, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, MGCB faculty candidate
'Epigenetic Reprogramming During Plant Reproduction'
4:00–5:00 PM
Cummings Life Science Center, Room 101

 

Thursday, February 4, 2010
MGCB Seminar
Alexander Ruthenburg, Rockefeller University, MGCB faculty candidate
'Multivalent interactions interpret the histone code at the nucleosome level'
4:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Cummings Life Science Center, Room 101

 

Monday, February 8, 2010
MGCB Seminar
Aaron Johnson, Harvard Medical School, MGCB faculty candidate
'Building Heterochromatic from the Ground Up'
4:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Cummings Life Science Center, Room 101

 

 

More News & Events

 

© 2008 Department of Molecular Genetics and Cell Biology ® The University of Chicago
CLSC 1106, 920 E 58th Street, Chicago, IL 60637
Phone: 773-702-1620 | Fax: 773-702-3172 | | Maps & Directions

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