Group - James Locke

Research Interests

I am interested in how genetically identical individuals can differ from each other even within a common environment. Such inter-individual variability can be beneficial when future environmental conditions are unpredictable. This phenomenon has been studied in microbes, where variability between genetically identical cells forms the basis for some forms of antibiotic resistance. Here, specific gene regulatory networks appear to have evolved to amplify stochastic molecular fluctuations, creating differences between genetically identical cells.

James graduated from the University of Warwick (2000) in Physics, before completing Maths Part III at Cambridge (2001). James then studied for a joint PhD in Biology and Theoretical Physics at the University of Warwick, with supervision from Professors Andrew Millar and Matthew Turner. During his PhD James used an iterative process of experiment and theory to propose a new feedback loop in the plant circadian (24-hour) clock. For this work he was awarded the Promega Young Geneticist of the Year award (2007).