Mani Larijani

Areas of interest

I work on processes that mutate and alter the genetic codes of DNA/RNA. My laboratory is interested in various dimensions of DNA/RNA-mutating processes. The overarching theme of our research is to understand their molecular/cellular mechanisms and biological impacts. Depending on the species, DNA/RNA-mutating processes have diverse biological functions ranging from modulating immune response, causing and exacerbating cancer, evolution of host and viral genomes, developmental reprogramming and tissue differentiation.

Thematically, we work on two broad fronts: first, how DNA/RNA-mutating processes impact human health and diseases; second, how they evolved, presently function or used to function in early-evolved non-human species. Our methodologies are interdisciplinary and integrate biochemistry, structural biology, molecular & cellular biology, evolutionary biology, whole organism approaches, and computational biology.