As individuals age, mutations accumulate inexorably in their cells, playing a key role in evolution, aging, and disease. Despite their importance, we still have a poor understanding of how mutations originate, or why some cells accumulate more mutations than others. Our lab aims to learn about how mutations occur—that is, how they originate mechanistically—as well as why their rate of appearance differs across cell types and species—namely, what selective pressures drive mutation rate evolution.

Lab Website: Mutation Dynamics lab