About
About
About Natalie
I attended Grinnell College, where I double-majored in Biochemistry and French. I earned my Ph.D. from Harvard University in the lab of Andrew Murray, where I focused on the molecular mechanisms of the spindle checkpoint and spindle assembly. I conducted postdoctoral research in the lab of Kelly Dawe at the University of Georgia, where I investigated meiotic chromosome segregation. I continue to study chromosome segregation and spindle assembly in my lab at Hamilton College with the help of many wonderful Hamilton College students (please see the People page).
About our Model Organisms
Zea mays (maize)
In the Nannas lab, our main model system is Zea mays (maize). Maize is not only an important agricultural crop, it has also been a fundamental model system in genetics. Important discoveries of chromosome structure, inheritance, gene interactions, genomics, and transposons have occurred with the help of this plant. For more information about maize as a model system, please see our review article.
Saccharomyces cerevisiae (budding yeast)
We use budding yeast as a powerful genetic system that offers fast division times, easy transgenics, and a eukaryotic system for experiments involving synthetic biology. We harness yeast to study a variety of protein functions from other organisms, including protein-interactions, molecular motor functions, tension sensing mechanisms, and segregation of artificial chromosomes.