Tarvin Lab
Principal Investigator: Rebecca D. Tarvin
Institution: University of California, Berkeley (Berkeley, CA)
Primary Subfield: Genetics/Genomics
Recruitment Status: ✅ Accepting PhD Students ✅ Hiring Postdocs
Research Focus
Project Summary/Abstract An important goal in biology is to link genotype with phenotype for traits that affect fitness. The unique adaptations found in animals that sequester neurotoxins are a useful model for understanding the genetic underpinnings of simple and complex traits that are relevant to human medicine. Specifically, neurotoxins target ion channel proteins that are critical for nervous system function. In humans, mutations in single ion channel genes can cause diseases such as epilepsy, myotonia, cystic fibrosis, migraines, and diabetes. However, animals often resist neurotoxins through mutations in these same ion channels, usually without suffering from disease phenotypes. Understanding how diverse organisms fine tune the function of ion channels without causing disease provides important information regarding the genetics of ion channel function and disease. Animals that not only resist but also sequester toxins likely modulate multi-gene pathways underlying toxin metabolism and transport, ultimately leading to selective toxin accumulation into specific tissues at high concentrations. The few known genes involved in toxin sequestration also play critical roles in drug…
Active NIH Awards
- 5R35GM150574-04: Evolutionary genetics of adaptation to toxins in animals (2026)
- 5R35GM150574-03: Evolutionary genetics of adaptation to toxins in animals (2025)
- 5R35GM150574-02: Evolutionary genetics of adaptation to toxins in animals (2024)
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