Professor Emerita of Biology

Overview

Judith Bender is a molecular geneticist who uses the laboratory plant Arabidopsis thaliana to understand basic mechanisms of gene regulation. Professor Bender began as a faculty member at Johns Hopkins University in 1995. She moved to the MCB Department of Brown University in 2007. Her research focuses on how gene expression is silenced by DNA methylation. Her work has elucidated a pathway for DNA methylation that depends on methylation of DNA-associated histone proteins. Another of her research interests is understanding how Myb proteins, a ubiquitous and highly conserved group of transcriptional regulators in plants, achieve target gene specificity. Besides providing basic insights into the evolution of Myb proteins, this work is relevant to exploiting Myb transcription factors for metabolic engineering. Professor Bender has taught courses in molecular biology and genetics.

Brown Affiliations

Research Areas