Current Research Interests

Genetic tools for emerging model organisms

Rodents have caused more than just the bubonic plague - they continue to plague scientific research by being the focus of the vast majority of life sciences research.

Humans are not rodents, however, and neither are many other organisms which are just as interesting to study. And while research into rodents has been fruitful and informative, we are in the era of biological research where any animal could become a model organism. However, the gap between genetic tools available for use in standard model systems (rodents, flies) and emerging model systems (basically, every other organism) is still wide, and one of my missions is to develop tools to make more organisms genetically tractable.

I’m borrowing ideas from protein engineering, such as directed evolution, to optimize tools for gene editing (e.g. CRISPR) and viral transduction (e.g. AAVs – adeno-associated viruses), for out-of-the-box use in novel species of research interest.

As some who champions open science, and in the “let’s democratize science” spirit of the Looger lab, I am happy to make reagents that I develop available to other researchers, and am open to sharing ideas and collaborating. Reach out to me if you’re looking for new genetic tools for your favourite model organism.

Biology of endogenous viruses

Viruses are simply mindblowing in their simplicity, versatility, and their influence on almost everything in biology. And while they get bad press because they are typically associated with diseases, we would not exist without viruses.

In the constant arms race between viruses and their hosts, they have found ways to integrate into host genomes and sit there silently, and hosts have found ways to disarm them and/or repurpose their genes for their own use. Therefore, over time, host genomes get littered with fragments of viral genomes. These parts of a genome’s “junk DNA” are called endogenous viral elements (EVEs). Many biologists typically think of endogenous retroviruses when they think of EVEs, but viruses of almost all types have been found in genomes.

Most EVEs have unknown functions, but some of the functions we do know about are fascinating enough to keep me interested in exploring the biology of endogenous viruses:

• Syncytin is a protein that we co-opted (a.k.a. “stole”) from a retrovirus, and it’s critical for the formation of the placenta.
• Arc is a protein that is important for synaptic plasticity and learning. It was a retroviral capsid once, and still retains the ability to package its own RNA and transmit it across neurons.
• Parasitoid wasps have endogenous viruses from the Bracovirus family, which are DNA viruses (i.e. not retroviruses). These endogenous viruses are particularly active in special cells in wasp ovaries. When parasitoid wasps lay eggs in their host, the Bracovirus particles that get co-injected work to suppress their host’s immune system to help ensure that the eggs will survive.

This barely scratches the surface of the wonderful world of endogenous virus biology. I’m currently working on understanding the function of a rather unusual AAV-like endogenous viral element in cephalopods. To learn more, watch my 3-minute pitch in the Outreach page, and/or reach out to me.

Effects of climate change on biology

Anthropogenic climate change has been happening since the Industrial Revolution (i.e. for ~200 years), and organisms have been subjected to various selection pressures as a result of this activity - higher atmospheric CO₂ and its resulting effects on temperature, artificial light at night, and environmental pollutants, to name a few.

While many organisms have been succumbing to these stressors, some have been surviving (and potentially thriving, even). I’m broadly interested in understanding the physiology and cell biology of these organisms, with a particular focus is on coleoid cephalopods (i.e. squids, octopuses, and cuttlefish).

Climate change also has lasting effects on human physiology and health - we are facing diseases we’ve never seen before, and extreme weather is taking a toll on our brains, bodies, and societies. I am interested in better understanding these effects and how we can mitigate or overcome them, in the long run.

This is a nascent and emerging field of research, so I don’t have too many details on here for the moment. Please reach out to me to learn more.