Member SpotlightsApplying Unusual DNA Structure to Disease Studies Olga A. Amosova, Ph.D. A Member Since February 2005  Growing up in Russia, Olga Amosova, Ph.D., spent her childhood reading popular science books. She was especially intrigued by the interconnection between physics and biology and decided to obtain a rigorous education in physics at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology. She earned her doctoral degree in biophysics by studying unusual DNA and RNA structures at the Institute of Molecular Genetics in Moscow. As a Research Molecular Biologist in the lab of Jacques Fresco at Princeton University (New Jersey), she continues her biophysical studies of nucleic acids: exploring molecular mechanisms while also investigating potential therapeutic applications. She began her association with Dr. Fresco through a chance meeting on a lovely Greek island where she attended a seminaræas a fellowship recipientæon the regulation of gene expression. Later she became a postdoctoral fellow in his lab before accepting her current position. Dr. Amosova is involved in multiple research projects in addition to helping run the laboratory. The majority of these projects depend upon a phenomenon known as third-strand binding in which a single strand of nucleic acid binds to Watson-Crick duplexes. She is applying third-strand binding toward a novel approach to gene therapy whereby mutated genes responsible for an inherited disease are repaired. Her team is investigating the possibility of correcting the hemoglobin mutation responsible for Sickle-Cell Anemia in hematopoietic stem cells. They have developed a specific third strand that can bind to the target and deliver a modifying chemical agent (linked to the third strand) to the mutant residue; an adduct formed at this residue is then repaired by cellular DNA repair machinery, in some cases leading to the correction of the mutation. The ultimate goal would be to develop a treatment regimen that would be similar to dialysis and replace at least 30% of the defective hemoglobin with healthy hemoglobin every six months. Dr. Amosova is also involved in studying gene amplification in specific cancers. Uncontrolled gene amplification is thought to be an accurate predictor of disease recurrence. By hybridizing a fluorescently labeled probe to a specific gene in situ using third-strand binding, copy number can be determined. This novel approach is being applied to breast cancer with the hopes that physicians would then be able to more aggressively treat tumors that displayed excessive gene amplification phenotypes. In addition to these applied studies, Dr. Amosova is spearheading an initiative to develop nanotechnological applications of nucleic acids hybridization. She also leads a project on probing site-specific self-catalytic depurination of DNA in the human genome. Besides her intense interest in unusual DNA structures, Dr. Amosova is also a self-taught pupil of psychology. Realizing that many laboratory managers do not actually have experience in managing their human capital, she invested time and energy into learning how to optimize students’ experience in the lab. She discovered how to hone her “people skills,” which helped her select the right mix of people for the lab and assisted her in establishing group harmony and improving their productivity. She accomplished this feat by reading psychology and sociology literature and studying the principles behind personality profiling tests like the Myers-Briggs and just recently, The Science Advisory Board’s Scientific Personality Assessment. ### << Previous Next >> [ View All Member Spotlights ] |
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