MCB's 21 primary faculty represent a diverse array of research that builds fundamental insight and translates into treating diseases such as cancer, neurodegeneration, and aging. Our faculty investigate a wide range of basic questions concerning cells and genes and their impact on evolution, aging, and disease. We are also researching novel approaches in science education and studying the very origins of life. Click on the research areas below to learn more about our work.
Mechanism of Aging and Disease
Age is the primary risk factor for the most prominent diseases in modern society—cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, stroke, neurodegeneration.
Signaling and Gene Regulation
Each living cell senses and integrates external cues and makes corresponding responses.
Genetics, Development, Evolution
Creating complex plant or animal tissues demands that cells adopt different fates by differentiating from stem cells into distinct cell types - flowers and roots or neurons and muscles.
Astrobiology, Synthetic Biology, Sustainability
To understand the origins, extent, and composition of life on Earth and in the Universe, molecular and cellular biologists study the conditions that make any environment on Earth and in our universe capable of supporting life.
Computational and Systems Biology
Understanding many cellular processes demands an integrative approach, considering systems of interacting biomolecules, rather than focusing on individual genes or proteins.
Science Education, Curricular Development
Research in Science Education seeks to understand teaching and learning in the sciences with the goal of improving it.