DNA repair is the main interest in the group. The term DNA repair covers many different mechanisms that remove damaged or inappropriate bases from DNA. Historically, studies of DNA repair has been motivated by the need for these mechanisms in order to prevent mutations – changes in the genetic code. Studies of DNA repair is therefore important in order to understand how cancer develops and how cancer can be treated. In recent years it has become clear that DNA repair enzymes have many important functions in cells other than to prevent mutations, most importantly in neurobiology to prevent neurodegenerative diseases. We have also recently demonstrated that DNA repair proteins contribute to RNA quality control.

Aims:
To study whether DNA damage and mutations may act as a driver of tumorigenesis
To study how signal transduction cascades may be elicited by DNA damage to activate cell death pathways in response to chemotherapeutic agents
To study how DNA repair mechanisms protect us from premature aging and age-related neurodegenerative diseases
To study how DNA repair enzymes maintain telomere length
To study how DNA repair proteins contribute to RNA quality Control