Peter M. McGuire

Understanding the interaction between proteins and nucleic acids is essential to learning how the cell regulates gene expression. Our goal is to understand the molecular details of these events. Current work focuses on the way these interactions regulatethe expression of immune system components. In this regard, comparative immunology plays a major role in this work, which involves isolating, cloning, sequencing, and expressing genes for antibodies, cytokines, and receptors. Integration of this information with analysis of the genetic structure of populations by DNA sequencing may permit identification of markers for genetic defects in the immune system.