Survival pathways supporting BRCA1 function.

Genes involved in the accurate form of DNA repair called homologous recombination are also needed to maintain cell survival. However in recent years it has become clear that these same genes have another role during DNA replication. Which of these is most significant to cell and organism survival is not known. Using cells in which a DNA repair gene has been changed in subtle ways to impact one or other of its functions we will establish how cells maintain proficiency when one role is deficient. We will use cell biology and genome editing in order to do this. We will validate our findings using approaches such as fluorescence microscopy, and the measurements of cell growth under specific stress conditions.
By these means we will identify fundamental impact of DNA repair and replication genes on the survival of cells and organisms.