Current Position:
Member and Professor, Molecular Biology Program; Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Institution:
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
Discipline:
Molecular & Cellular Biology
Biography:
Scott Keeney’s research focuses on the mechanism and regulation of homologous recombination during meiosis, which is the specialized cell division that gives rise to reproductive cells like spores in yeast or sperm and eggs in mammals. Recombination initiated with DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) helps homologous chromosomes segregate accurately at the first meiotic division. A challenge in genetics has been to understand how cells control DSBs to foster their essential functions but minimize deleterious effects. Dr. Keeney’s group has developed new tools to study genome-wide patterns of DSB formation at high resolution, and has discovered novel pathways by which DSB formation and repair are regulated.