Geraldine Seydoux, PhD
- Johns Hopkins School of Medicine Faculty
Languages
- English
Gender
FemaleAbout Geraldine Seydoux
Professional Titles
- Huntington Sheldon Professor in Medical Discovery
- Vice Dean for Basic Research
Primary Academic Title
Professor of Molecular Biology and Genetics
Background
Dr. Geraldine Seydoux is the Huntington Sheldon Professor in Medical Discovery in the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and an investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Her work examines how early embryos develop into complex asymmetric structures comprising many cell types.
The Seydoux lab studies how single-cell embryos localize RNAs and proteins to pattern developmental potential. Currently, the lab is studying a new class of intrinsically-disordered proteins that scaffold RNA granules and regulate germ cell fate. The lab has also characterized an efficient, homology-dependent DNA repair pathway and developed methods for genome engineering.
Dr. Seydoux received her B.S. in biochemistry from the University of Maine at Orono in 1986, and completed her Ph.D. in molecular biology at Princeton University in 1991. After a postdoctoral fellowship in developmental biology at the Carnegie Institute of Washington, she joined the faculty of Johns Hopkins in 1995 as an assistant professor. She became an associate professor in 2000, and a full professor in 2005.
Dr. Seydoux's work has garnered several awards, including a MacArthur Fellowship in 2001. She was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2013 and to the National Academy of Sciences in 2016. She assumed the role of vice dean for Basic Research at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in 2017.
Centers and Institutes
Additional Academic Titles
Professor of Genetic Medicine
Contact for Research Inquiries
725 N. Wolfe Street
706 PCTB
Baltimore, MD 21205
Phone: (410) 614-4622
Fax: (410) 955-9124
gseydoux@jhmi.edu
Research Interests
genome engineering, intrinsically-disordered proteins, phase transition, RNA granules
Lab Website
Seydoux Lab - Lab Website
- The Seydoux Lab studies the earliest stages of embryogenesis to understand how single-celled eggs develop into complex multicellular embryos. We focus on the choice between soma and germline, one of the first developmental decisions faced by embryos. Our goal is to identify and characterize the molecular mechanisms that activate embryonic development, polarize embryos, and distinguish between somatic and germline cells, using Caenorhabditis elegans as a model system. Our research program is divided into three areas: oocyte-to-embryo transition, embryonic polarity and soma-germline dichotomy.
Research Summary
Geraldine Seydoux is a developmental biologist who studies how early embryos develop into complex asymmetric structures comprising many cell types. Geraldine uses the transparent worm C. elegans as a model system and has developed methods to film and measure protein dynamics in live embryos.
Selected Publications
Seydoux, G. The P Granules of C. elegans: A Genetic Model for the Study of RNA-Protein Condensates. J. Mol. Biol. 2018;430 (23):4702-4710. doi: 10.1016/j.jmb.2018.08.007. PubMed PMID:30096346
Lee, CY, Lu, T. Seydoux, G. 2017 Specification of the germline by Nanos-dependent down-regulation of the somatic synMuvB transcription factor LIN-15B. eLife, Elife. 2016 Dec 3;5. pii: e21337. doi: 10.7554/eLife.21337
Ouyang, JPT, Folkmann, A, Bernard, L, Lee, CY, Seroussi, U, Charlesworth, AG et al.. P Granules Protect RNA Interference Genes from Silencing by piRNAs. Dev. Cell. 2019;50 (6):716-728.e6. doi: 10.1016/j.devcel.2019.07.026. PubMed PMID:31402283 PubMed Central PMC6764750
Paix, A., Folkmann, A., Goldman, D., Kulaga H., Grzelak M., Rasoloson D., Paidemarry S., Green R., Reed R., Seydoux, G. 2017 Precision genome editing using synthesis-dependent repair of Cas9-induced DNA breaks. PNAS, 2017 Nov 28. pii: 201711979. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1711979114
Putnam, A, Cassani, M, Smith, J, Seydoux, G. A gel phase promotes condensation of liquid P granules in Caenorhabditis elegans embryos. Nat. Struct. Mol. Biol. 2019;26 (3):220-226. doi: 10.1038/s41594-019-0193-2. PubMed PMID:30833787 PubMed Central PMC6668929
Courses & Syllabi
- Molecules and Cells, (Instructor), 1/1/96
- Fundamentals of Genetics, (Instructor), 1/1/97
- Development Biology Elective, (Instructor), 1/1/04
- Epigenetics Elective, (Instructor), 1/1/04
- Fundamentals of Genetics, (Course Director), 1/1/03
Honors
- Election to the National Academy of Sciences, NAS
- MacArthur Fellowship, 1/1/01
- Kirsch Investigator Award, Steve and Michele Kirsch Foundation, 1/1/01
- Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), National Institutes of Health, 1/1/99
- Searle Scholar Program, The Chicago Community Trust, 1/1/96
- David and Lucile Packard Fellowship for Science and Engineering, 1/1/95
- Helen Hay Whitney Post-Doctoral Fellowship, 1/1/91
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute Pre-Doctoral Fellowship, 1/1/88
- Princeton Fellowship, 1/1/86
Graduate Program Affiliations
Biochemistry, Cellular and Molecular Biology (BCMB) Graduate Program
Human Genetics and Molecular Biology
Memberships
- American Society for Cell Biology
- Genetic Society of America
- Society for Developmental Biology
Professional Activities
- Johns Hopkins University, Admissions Committee BCMB graduate program, 1/1/97
- Life Sciences Research Foundation, Review Panel, 1/1/05 - 12/31/19
Additional Training
Carnegie Institute of Washington, Washington, D.C., 1995, Developmental Biology