Work Email Address:
jacobsen@ucla.edu
Lab Number:
(310) 206-3336
Office Phone Number:
(310) 825-0182
Work Phone Number:
(310) 825-7896
Laboratory Address:
TLSB 4045
Mailing Address:
Dept. of MCD Biology
P. O. Box 957239
610 Charles E. Young Drive East
Campus code 723905
Los Angeles, CA 90095
Office Address:
TLSB 4028
| Affiliations |
| HHMI Investigator, Department of Molecular Cell and Developmental Biology, Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology |
| Professor, Biological Chemistry |
| Member, Bioinformatics GPB Home Area, Cell & Developmental Biology GPB Home Area, Eli & Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine & Stem Cell Research, Gene Regulation GPB Home Area, Genetics & Genomics GPB Home Area, JCCC Gene Regulation Program Area |
Our lab studies epigenetic gene regulation in plants and animals. The work focuses on modifications of chromatin including cytosine DNA methylation, histone modifications, and the role of non-coding RNAs in gene regulation. About 70% our effort is aimed at using Arabidopsis thaliana as a model genetic system to study how conserved epigenetic modifications function in gene silencing and activation. The other 30% is focused on mouse and human epigenetic regulation. Current efforts are aimed at understanding mechanisms of RNA directed DNA methylation, the action of the conserved MORC proteins in gene silencing processes in plants and animals, and antisilencing mechanisms that function to oppose silencing mechanisms. We also have a program focused on targeting various epigenetic modifications using CRISPR systems. The main approaches we use are genetic screens, genomics and bioinformatics, and biochemistry and structural biology.
Steve Jacobsen did his PhD at the University of Minnesota and postdoctoral studies at the California Institute of Technology with Elliot Meyerowitz. He joined the department of Molecular Cell and Developmental Biology in 1998. He has recieved two young investigator awards for his research, from the Searle Scholars and Beckman Young Investigator Programs. He was named an HHMI Investigator since 2005, received Phillip C. Hamm Memorial Lecture Award in 2008, Charles A. Shull Award for outstanding investigations in the field of plant biology in 2009, and was elected to National Academy of Sciences and American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2011 and 2016 respectively.