Liau, Wei-Siang

During my masters, I worked with Dr. Craig LaMunyon to characterize a mitochondrial DNA deletion in Caenorhabditis elegans. Specifically, I examined how the deletion affected metabolism, lifespan and sperm performance. In addition, I have also mapped and cloned several genes involved in spermiogenesis, a process by which immature sperm activates to form mature active sperm. In Dr. Carla Koehler's lab, I characterized several mutant fish lines with mitochondrial defects. During the course of this study, I have identified a novel mitochondrial DNA binding protein, Kansl2, which plays a role in the maintenance of mitochondrial DNA. As a postdoctoral research fellow in Dr. Takaomi Sanda's lab, I am currently identifying and characterizing potential therapeutic targets involved in T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia.