DNA damage and repair

Lindsey contributes to body of research on understanding of DNA repair

The research of David Lindsey, Walla Walla University professor of biology and chair of the biology department, has recently been published in the online biomedical and life science journal, eLife.

In the article, published Sept. 8 of this year, Lindsey and eight other contributors provide key insights into the process of DNA repair by identifying key protein interactions within cells. Lindsey is an expert in this field and joins scientists from as far as Grenoble, France to compile this research.

“DNA repair is a critical process,” Lindsey says. “If DNA is damaged, it must be repaired before cell division. If not, the genetic defect is replicated and passed down to the daughter cells.” Further understanding this process sheds light on serious medical issues such as determining how diseases like cancer begin and spread.

The majority of Lindsey’s contribution to this paper took place in 2006 during his five-month research sabbatical with co-contributor Keith Wilkinson at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. Since then, other scientists have added to their work, and Lindsey himself has been engaged with data analysis here at WWU.

“I greatly value working with undergraduate students here at the University,” said Lindsey, recalling his research leading up to the publication of this paper. “My roles as a teacher and a researcher are interconnected.”

The article, “Wss1 metalloprotease partners with Cdc48/Doa1 in processing genotoxic SUMO conjugates” can be found at http://elifesciences.org/content/4/e06763.

Posted Nov. 13, 2015

WWU biology professor, David Lindsey, has recently been published in the science journal eLife.