Cait S. Kirby

Vanderbilt University | Vander Bilt · Department of Biological Sciences

Inside mitochondria reside semi-autonomous genomes, called mtDNA. mtDNA is multi-copy per cell and mtDNA copy number can vary from hundreds to thousands of copies per cell. The variability of mtDNA copy number between tissues, combined with the lack of variability of copy number within a tissue, suggest a homeostatic copy number regulation mechanis...

All instructors bring a set of unconscious or implicit biases to the classroom. These biases can negatively impact the way they interact with students, thus affecting important student outcomes (e.g., grades, sense of belonging). Facilitators leading programming on inclusive teaching may struggle to identify strategies they should include in sessio...

Many institutions of higher education will use online teaching in some form in the coming months. Active learning strategies in online classrooms can present new challenges, especially for quiet or shy students, or students who are not in a location where speaking is feasible. Further, development of student science identity, class community, and s...

Mutant mitochondrial genomes (mtDNA) can be viewed as selfish genetic elements that persist in a state of heteroplasmy despite having potentially deleterious metabolic consequences. We sought to study regulation of selfish mtDNA dynamics. We establish that the large 3.1-kb deletion-bearing mtDNA variant uaDf5 is a selfish genome in Caenorhabditis e...

Selfish genetic elements have profound biological and evolutionary consequences. Mutant mitochondrial genomes (mtDNA) can be viewed as selfish genetic elements that persist in a state of heteroplasmy despite having potentially deleterious consequences to the organism. We sought to investigate mechanisms that allow selfish mtDNA to achieve and susta...

An inversion polymorphism of the filamin and emerin genes at the tip of the long arm of the human X-chromosome serves as the basis of an investigative laboratory in which students learn something new about their own genomes. Long, nearly identical inverted repeats flanking the filamin and emerin genes illustrate how repetitive elements can lead to...