Moving Toward Genetic Solutions
The author of a highly acclaimed genetics text that creatively integrates facts with
experimentation and methods, Robert Brooker has received the University's highest
award for undergraduate education.
Brooker is a cell biologist who studies transport in microorganisms, the ability of living cells
to move specific solutes across semi-permeable membranes. He is interested in the uptake of different
types of hydrophilic solutes via membrane-bound proteins, and has focused on two different types of
transporters: sugar and metal. Both types are symporters that couple the uptake of the
solute with the uptake of hydrogen ions.
With regard to sugar transport, Brooker has focused on the lactose permease
found in E. coli bacteria. Current studies involve an analysis of permease structure
and function using both genetic and biophysical approaches.
The metal transporters that Brooker has studied are involved in the uptake of iron
and manganese. They are part of a family of transporters found in bacteria, plants, and animals
and are needed for the uptake of iron into the human body. The study of iron transporters
is directed in several areas, including regulation, structure/function, and their potential role
in human genetic diseases.
BROOKER HOME PAGE
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