Meru J. Sadhu, Ph.D.

A​ longstanding goal in genetics research is to understand how genetic variation across species affects biological processes and phenotypes. Variation in pathogen susceptibility is one of the most important cross-species traits to understand for the purposes of furthering human health, because it is critical for determining which species can harbor diseases that could jump to humans. Genetic variation across potential host species plays an important role in determining a pathogen’s host range, especially variation in host proteins that directly interact with pathogen proteins, such as cell surface receptors and innate immune defense factors. However, most studies characterize these interactions for proteins from only a handful of species. The SBGE section leverages systems biology approaches to understand host range comprehensively, harnessing large-scale DNA synthesis technology and high-throughput yeast screening. Long term, our goal is to leverage this comprehensive view of pathogen host range to further understand how host range evolves over time and across pathogen populations.