Sarah Elgin
Encyclopedia
Sarah C.R. Elgin is an American biologist noted for her work in epigenetics
, gene regulation, and heterochromatin
and her contributions to science education
.
In high school, Elgin studied fallout
levels in Oregon
rainwater after nuclear weapons tests in the Soviet Union
. She received her B.A.
in chemistry
from Pomona College
. While at Pomona, she participated in a summer research program at the University of Leeds
characterizing the egg stalk of the green lacewing
fly Chrysopa vittata. Elgin did her graduate work in the lab of James Bonner at the California Institute of Technology
, isolating and characterizing nonhistone chromosomal proteins from rat livers. She received her Ph.D.
in biochemistry
in 1972. Elgin stayed at Caltech
for her postdoctoral research, working in the lab of Leroy Hood
. She continued to isolate and characterize nonhistone chromosomal proteins but started studying Drosophila
.
After her postdoc, Elgin joined the faculty at Harvard University
, where her lab pioneered immunostaining
of polytene chromosome
s from Drosophila larval salivary glands and nuclease
digestion assays.
In 1981, Elgin joined the faculty in the Department of Biology at Washington University in St. Louis
. Her lab isolated and characterized Heterochromatin Protein 1
in Drosophila (now known as Su(var)205 or HP1a). To probe chromatin environments, her lab developed a P element construct with a copy of the white
gene driven by the hsp70
promoter. When this reporter gene
is inserted into heterochromatic
environments, the fly eyes display a vareigating phenotype, whereas when the P element is inserted into euchromatin
the fly eyes show a red phenotype; this phenomenon is known as Position-effect variegation
. Nuclease
digestion assays have confirmed that the eye phenotypes are indicative of the chromatin environment surrounding the P element insertion site. In 2006, Elgin was named as the inaugural Viktor Hamburger
Distinguished Professor in Arts and Sciences http://artsci.wustl.edu/about/news/563.
At Washington University and in the St. Louis area, Elgin has been active in science education. She founded the Washington University Science Outreach program in 1989 http://www.so.wustl.edu/sarah-elgin and has been active in science education in the University City
school district.
In 2002 Elgin became an HHMI
Professor http://www.hhmi.org/news/091802.htmlhttp://www.hhmi.org/grants/professors/elgin_bio.html with the goal to develop core curriculum to integrate primary research in genomics
with a college course. This project has been expanded and disseminated as the Genomics Education Partnership http://gep.wustl.edu, a consortium of 66 member colleges and universities http://gep.wustl.edu/community/prospective_members who participate in sequence improvement
and annotation projects with the goal of publishing the results in primary research journals.
Epigenetics
In biology, and specifically genetics, epigenetics is the study of heritable changes in gene expression or cellular phenotype caused by mechanisms other than changes in the underlying DNA sequence – hence the name epi- -genetics...
, gene regulation, and heterochromatin
Heterochromatin
Heterochromatin is a tightly packed form of DNA, which comes in different varieties. These varieties lie on a continuum between the two extremes of constitutive and facultative heterochromatin...
and her contributions to science education
Science education
Science education is the field concerned with sharing science content and process with individuals not traditionally considered part of the scientific community. The target individuals may be children, college students, or adults within the general public. The field of science education comprises...
.
In high school, Elgin studied fallout
Fallout
Fallout or nuclear fallout is the residual radiation hazard from a nuclear explosion.Fallout may also refer to:*Fallout , a 1997 post-apocalyptic computer role-playing game released by Interplay Entertainment...
levels in Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
rainwater after nuclear weapons tests in the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
. She received her B.A.
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
in chemistry
Chemistry
Chemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....
from Pomona College
Pomona College
Pomona College is a private, residential, liberal arts college in Claremont, California. Founded in 1887 in Pomona, California by a group of Congregationalists, the college moved to Claremont in 1889 to the site of a hotel, retaining its name. The school enrolls 1,548 students.The founding member...
. While at Pomona, she participated in a summer research program at the University of Leeds
University of Leeds
The University of Leeds is a British Redbrick university located in the city of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England...
characterizing the egg stalk of the green lacewing
Chrysopinae
Chrysopinae is a subfamily of green lacewings in the insect family Chrysopidae in the order Neuroptera. They are the nominate taxon and largest member of the green lacewing family , containing about 60 genera....
fly Chrysopa vittata. Elgin did her graduate work in the lab of James Bonner at the California Institute of Technology
California Institute of Technology
The California Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Pasadena, California, United States. Caltech has six academic divisions with strong emphases on science and engineering...
, isolating and characterizing nonhistone chromosomal proteins from rat livers. She received her Ph.D.
Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
in biochemistry
Biochemistry
Biochemistry, sometimes called biological chemistry, is the study of chemical processes in living organisms, including, but not limited to, living matter. Biochemistry governs all living organisms and living processes...
in 1972. Elgin stayed at Caltech
California Institute of Technology
The California Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Pasadena, California, United States. Caltech has six academic divisions with strong emphases on science and engineering...
for her postdoctoral research, working in the lab of Leroy Hood
Leroy Hood
Leroy Hood is an American biologist. He won the 2011 Fritz J. and Dolores H. Russ Prize “for automating DNA sequencing that revolutionized biomedicine and forensic science” and the 2003 Lemelson-MIT Prize for inventing "four instruments that have unlocked much of the mystery of human biology" by...
. She continued to isolate and characterize nonhistone chromosomal proteins but started studying Drosophila
Drosophila
Drosophila is a genus of small flies, belonging to the family Drosophilidae, whose members are often called "fruit flies" or more appropriately pomace flies, vinegar flies, or wine flies, a reference to the characteristic of many species to linger around overripe or rotting fruit...
.
After her postdoc, Elgin joined the faculty at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
, where her lab pioneered immunostaining
Immunostaining
Immunostaining is a general term in biochemistry that applies to any use of an antibody-based method to detect a specific protein in a sample. The term immunostaining was originally used to refer to the immunohistochemical staining of tissue sections, as first described by Albert Coons in 1941...
of polytene chromosome
Polytene chromosome
To increase cell volume, some specialized cells undergo repeated rounds of DNA replication without cell division , forming a giant polytene chromosome...
s from Drosophila larval salivary glands and nuclease
Nuclease
A nuclease is an enzyme capable of cleaving the phosphodiester bonds between the nucleotide subunits of nucleic acids. Older publications may use terms such as "polynucleotidase" or "nucleodepolymerase"....
digestion assays.
In 1981, Elgin joined the faculty in the Department of Biology at Washington University in St. Louis
Washington University in St. Louis
Washington University in St. Louis is a private research university located in suburban St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1853, and named for George Washington, the university has students and faculty from all fifty U.S. states and more than 110 nations...
. Her lab isolated and characterized Heterochromatin Protein 1
Heterochromatin protein 1
The family of Heterochromatin Protein 1 are highly conserved adapter proteins, which have important functions in the cell nucleus...
in Drosophila (now known as Su(var)205 or HP1a). To probe chromatin environments, her lab developed a P element construct with a copy of the white
White (mutation)
White, abbreviated w, was the first sex-linked mutation ever discovered in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster. In 1910 Thomas Hunt Morgan, collected a single male white-eyed mutant from a population of Drosophila melanogaster fruit flies, which usually have bright red eyes...
gene driven by the hsp70
Hsp70
The 70 kilodalton heat shock proteins are a family of ubiquitously expressed heat shock proteins. Proteins with similar structure exist in virtually all living organisms...
promoter. When this reporter gene
Reporter gene
In molecular biology, a reporter gene is a gene that researchers attach to a regulatory sequence of another gene of interest in cell culture, animals or plants. Certain genes are chosen as reporters because the characteristics they confer on organisms expressing them are easily identified and...
is inserted into heterochromatic
Heterochromatin
Heterochromatin is a tightly packed form of DNA, which comes in different varieties. These varieties lie on a continuum between the two extremes of constitutive and facultative heterochromatin...
environments, the fly eyes display a vareigating phenotype, whereas when the P element is inserted into euchromatin
Euchromatin
Euchromatin is a lightly packed form of chromatin that is rich in gene concentration, and is often under active transcription. Unlike heterochromatin, it is found in both cells with nuclei and cells without nuclei...
the fly eyes show a red phenotype; this phenomenon is known as Position-effect variegation
Position-effect variegation
Position-effect variegation is a variegation caused by the inactivation of a gene in some cells through its abnormal juxtaposition with heterochromatin....
. Nuclease
Nuclease
A nuclease is an enzyme capable of cleaving the phosphodiester bonds between the nucleotide subunits of nucleic acids. Older publications may use terms such as "polynucleotidase" or "nucleodepolymerase"....
digestion assays have confirmed that the eye phenotypes are indicative of the chromatin environment surrounding the P element insertion site. In 2006, Elgin was named as the inaugural Viktor Hamburger
Viktor Hamburger
Viktor Hamburger was a German professor and embryologist. Hamburger lectured, among others, Nobel Prize-winning neurologist Rita Levi-Montalcini , who identified nerve growth factor along with Hamburger when they collaborated...
Distinguished Professor in Arts and Sciences http://artsci.wustl.edu/about/news/563.
At Washington University and in the St. Louis area, Elgin has been active in science education. She founded the Washington University Science Outreach program in 1989 http://www.so.wustl.edu/sarah-elgin and has been active in science education in the University City
University City, Missouri
University City is an inner-ring suburb in St. Louis County, Missouri. The population was 35,371 in 2010 census. The city was shaped by Washington University in St. Louis, whose campus abuts the city to the southeast....
school district.
In 2002 Elgin became an HHMI
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Howard Hughes Medical Institute is a United States non-profit medical research organization based in Chevy Chase, Maryland. It was founded by the American businessman Howard Hughes in 1953. It is one of the largest private funding organizations for biological and medical research in the United...
Professor http://www.hhmi.org/news/091802.htmlhttp://www.hhmi.org/grants/professors/elgin_bio.html with the goal to develop core curriculum to integrate primary research in genomics
Genomics
Genomics is a discipline in genetics concerning the study of the genomes of organisms. The field includes intensive efforts to determine the entire DNA sequence of organisms and fine-scale genetic mapping efforts. The field also includes studies of intragenomic phenomena such as heterosis,...
with a college course. This project has been expanded and disseminated as the Genomics Education Partnership http://gep.wustl.edu, a consortium of 66 member colleges and universities http://gep.wustl.edu/community/prospective_members who participate in sequence improvement
Finisher
Finisher may refer to:* In the field of genome sequencing, a finisher is one who analyzes an electropherogram, a graphical representation of data received from a sequencing machine and yields one read, in comparison to the consensus, a sequence that has been generated from the alignment of multiple...
and annotation projects with the goal of publishing the results in primary research journals.
Memberships
- Academy of Science, St. LouisAcademy of Science, St. LouisThe Academy of Science - St. Louis is a non-profit organization in St. Louis, Missouri, dedicated to science literacy and education. It was founded in 1856 by a group of scientists and businessmen in St. Louis, including George Engelmann and James B. Eads, the Academy has been involved in many...
- American Association for the Advancement of ScienceAmerican Association for the Advancement of ScienceThe American Association for the Advancement of Science is an international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsibility, and supporting scientific education and science outreach for the...