Thomas Boothby, Ph.D.
Department of Molecular Biology
Associate Professor
Research Overview
We want to understand how organisms survive in extreme environments. What are the functional mediators that they use, by what mechanisms do these mediators function, and how did they evolve?
We use a number of integrated approaches spanning ‘omics and bioinformatics, molecular biology, genetics, biochemistry and biophysics, and material science. We work with diverse organisms such as tardigrades (AKA water bears), bacteria and yeast as well as ex vivo and in vitro systems. Beyond elucidating the fundamental biology underlying extreme stress tolerance our efforts are aimed at practical application of this knowledge, such as the stabilization of fragile biomedical material and the engineering to hardier crop plants.
