BERT ELY

Bert Ely

Professor of Biological Sciences
Ph.D., 1973, Johns Hopkins University
803-777-2768
ely@biol.sc.edu

Dr. Ely's Personal Web Page
Publications
Teaching & Outreach

Molecular Genetics, Genetics of Human Populations

Bacterial Genome evolution. We are studying the genomes of the Caulobacters and the bacteriophage that attack them to understand how genome rearrangements occur. This project is being done in collaboration with members of the Eau Claire High School Science Club and involves the isolation of bacteriophage from the wild, characterization of the phage, genome sequencing, and bioinformatics. In addition, we have shown that genomic GC content influences both protein amino acid content and bacterial genome mutation patterns.

Breast Cancer Genetics. We are investigating how mutations in various genes affect the risk of getting breast cancer or the properties of the cancer should it occur. African American women have a lower incidence of breast cancer compared to Caucasian women, but the cancers that do occur tend to be more aggressive. Although cultural and environmental factors contribute to this difference, it appears that there is a genetic component as well. Current evidence suggests that mutations in a number of genes impact the risk of breast cancer. We are genotyping breast cancer patients to determine if certain combinations of these mutations might help explain differences in breast cancer risk or tumor aggressiveness.

For Recent Publications and additional information about Dr. Ely's Research, Teaching and Outreach Efforts, please go to Dr. Elys Personal Web Page: http://www.biol.sc.edu/~elygen/

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This is <URL:http://www.biol.sc.edu/faculty/ely.html> last modified 12 January 2011