About Jon DiRusso
I am a Ph. D. candidate studying molecular biology, focusing on germline development. With over 8 years of experience at the bench, I have expertise tackling challenging questions in developmental biology using a variety of model systems including transgenic mice, mammalian stem cells, and Drosophila. My work leverages a number of techniques to answer these questions, including RNA-seq, ATAC-seq, ChIP-seq, and confocal microscopy. To ask complex and relevant questions, I employ genetic tools including transgenic animal models, animal husbandry, and CRISPR gene editing.
Away from the bench, I use a variety of computational tools to analyze genomics data. To this end I have developed pipelines to analyze RNA-seq, ChIP-seq, ATAC-seq, and single-cell RNA seq. To quantify often qualitative microscopy data, I employ ImageJ, scikit (Python) and R. My computational skillset includes Linux (use and system administration), R and Python.
More details about past and present projects can be found below and in more detail on my Projects page.
Current Projects
My current work focuses on understanding how epigenetic control of transposable elements contributes to gene regulatory networks that drive key fate transitions in mammalian germline development. This work answers basic questions about how transposable elements have embedded themselves into the evolutionary fabric of reproduction. My work has let to key insights including:
- An evolutionary young TE, LTR5Hs, acts as an enhancer in human germline specification.
- Precise, sex-specific control of TEs is necessary during transition from germline precursor cells to adult germ cells.
Collectively these projects demonstrate that TE expression and control are critical aspects of cell identity to consider when engineering and benchmarking in vitro models.
Past projects
My past projects have utilized Drosophila to ask a number of questions, including:
- What molecular mechanisms drive multi-drug resistance in tumor stem cells
- How can Drosophila be used to perform high-throughput screening of compounds
An abundance of genetic tools, as well as thoroughly understood cell-signaling networks made Drosophila an attractive model for both of these projects.