CTR studentship: Role of the base excision repair pathway in demethylation of DNA and trophoblast development

Genetic information is passed from generation to generation and is the material upon which natural selection acts. On top of this genetic information the genome also contains epigenetic information in the form of chemical and other modifications to DNA, which are associated with gene expression and genome function. Epigenetic information is acquired during development and perhaps also dependent on changing environmental conditions. During development of germ cells (egg and sperm) and gametes however there is a process of erasure of such epigenetic information. This may aid embryonic development afresh in the next generation, and eliminate acquired epigenetic information so that it cannot be passed down the generations. The mechanisms of erasure of epigenetic information may partly be based on repair of DNA. We are addressing the mechanisms of erasure in animal models, and how perturbations in this process might affect the development of early embryos.