Science, but for normal people

You have an important job to do. You must copy down all human history to pass on to the next generation or else they will not have the proper information to live. Every mistake that is made will impact your entire line of progeny. This is already a daunting task, but there is a catch. At the exact same time you are copying this information onto reams of paper, they are being instantly collected, bound into volumes of books, and passed into the hands of the next generation. Keep up with the rapid pace or else terrible things will happen.

Welcome to the life of a cell.

When your cells divide, they must copy and pass on their genetic material. If there are mistakes in the copying process or things are left out, it can create chaos within the cell. Seems like it would be better for the cell to first copy the material, then proofread, and only then divide. This was thought to be the process for many years… until recently. Studies have shown cells are a bit like us and will “procrastinate” doing the copying until the last minute. They even may miss their deadline.

Our research looks at why cells would undergo such a stressful process and what happens when things inevitably go wrong.

Allie and her team hope to apply their findings to improve our understanding of how cells overcome this obstacle. This type of work is the foundation upon which we can build our knowledge of cancerous diseases and how to prevent them.  

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