George Smith
- Research Assistant in Computational Biology
Contact
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Location
- Sainsbury Laboratory
- University of Cambridge, 47 Bateman Street, Cambridge, CB2 1LR
About
I am a Research Assistant in the Jönsson group, with a background in mathematics and theoretical physics.
I started my journey at Imperial College London with a degree in physics, before moving to Cambridge to study Maths Part III. Now at the Sainsbury Laboratory, I am modelling the gene regulatory network in the floral meristem of Arabidopsis thaliana.
Research
I am modelling the gene regulatory network (GRN) in the floral meristem of Arabidopsis thaliana. In particular, I am simulating the dynamics and behaviour of a gene given a certain set of interactions with repressors and activators, and testing to see if the outcome matches our hypotheses, or if something is missing from the picture and we need to search for novel ideas.
Currently, I am interested in simulating the dynamics of auxin transport and peak formation. Interesting patterning can occur from the competition of the positive feedback loop of PIN1 polarisation driven active transport against passive diffusion processes. This can provide insight into phyllotaxis and organ initiation in floral development.
In the bigger picture, this work is part of the RESYDE project, a collaboration between Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (Germany), University of Sydney (Australia), Sainsbury Laboratory, University of Cambridge (UK) and Umeå University (Sweden). Funded by an ERC Synergy grant, the project aims to further our understanding of symmetry breaking in plant development.