Stemmann Group

Cellular health depends on homeostasis of the genetic information during cell division. This requires 1) error-free segregation of chromosomes during cell division, 2) error-free repair of damaged DNA and 3) apoptosis of cells that nevertheless accumulate genetic errors. All these three processes - chromosome segregation, DNA damage response and programmed cell death - are studied in our lab. To this end, we use genetic, cell biological and biochemical approaches to arrive at a molecular and mechanistic understanding of these crucial events in vertebrate cells.

Fluorescence microscopy of human cells that undergo anaphase (left), were treated with hydroxytamoxifen to direct an engineered endonuclease into the nucleus and introduce DNA double strand breaks (middle), or were co-depleted of securin and Sgo2 to induce apoptosis (right).