David Segal

Assistant Professor Ph.D., University of Utah, 1996 Office Phone: (530) 754-9134 E-mail: djsegal@ucdavis.edu

Research Interests:
Engineering zinc finger DNA-binding proteins for diagnostics and gene therapy

Research Synopsis:
We are investigating zinc finger-DNA and zinc finger-protein recognition on using structural, biochemical, and computational approaches.  This work should provide insights into the more than 500 zinc finger proteins encoded in our genome.  These basic science studies help us to design cusotm DNA-binding proteins for our applied projects.  A major effort in my lab is to make custom endonucleases, which can be used to stimulate homologous recombination at a specific, desired locus in chromatin.  Using this new methodology, we can engineer insertions, deletions, and genomic rearrangments.  For example, we are designing targeted endonuclease to seek and destroy the integrated HIV virus within cells.  Other projects aim to repair the mutations that cause genetic diseases at the DNA level.  We are also developing diagnostic tools, using a process we call "SEER" (SEquence-Enabled Reassembly), that can scan the DNA inside a living cell and produce a fluorescent signal when a particular sequence is detected.  We hope to develop novel diagnostic agents and corrective gene therapies.

See Publications