Lan Xu

Profile

Bio: I am a postdoctoral research assistance working with Dr. Alex de Mendoza on a project aiming to understand the evolution of DNA methylation in eukaryotes. I did my PhD study with Drs. Ten-Tsao Wong and Yonathan Zohar at Institute of Marine and Environmental Technology, University of Maryland Baltimore County, USA. My research there focused on sterilization technologies development in different models (zebrafish, salmonid, oyster).

Project: DNA methylation is an epigenetic modification in eukaryotic genomes which involves in regulating gene and transpose element expression. Although gene body is the most conserved genomic location for DNA methylation deposition in animals, its function is poorly understood outside vertebrate. My current research aims to understand the role of DNA methylation in an invertebrate species starlet sea anemone Nematostella vectensis. Using genetic and pharmacological tools to disrupt DNA methylation allows me to study the function and inheritance of this epigenetic mark in invertebrates.

Research

Publications

https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=F1ux3tMAAAAJ&hl=en