Würzburg Life Science Seminar: Sam Sternberg

Prof Sam Sternberg - “Diverse mechanisms of antiviral immunity by bacterial reverse transcriptases”

The Sternberg Lab studies how noncoding RNAs conspire with effector proteins to target DNA. Focusing on evolutionarily distinct but analogous systems in both prokaryotes and eukaryotes and using a combination of biochemistry, structural biology, biophysics, and genetics, the lab aims to uncover new biological function while simultaneously advancing novel tools with which to precisely manipulate the genome.  In addition to CRISPR-Cas systems and transposons, they have recently expanded their interest to bacterial reverse transcriptases and their involvement in antiphage defense.