The research in my lab applies experimental molecular genomic, mathematical and computational approaches to investigate the regulation of gene expression during development. The major focus is on analyzing the epigenetic and regulatory networks that control transcription in the embryo in model insect species, including Drosophila and social insects.
Robert Drewell
Professor, Biology
- About
- Scholarly and creative works
- Awards and grants
Degrees
- Ph.D. in Molecular & Developmental Biology, King’s College, University of Cambridge, 1999
- B.S. in Molecular Genetics, King’s College, University of London, 1996
Affiliated Department
Scholarly and creative works
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Two coacting shadow enhancers regulate twin of eyeless expression during early Drosophila development
Genetics2025Vol. 229Issue #1 -
Experimental approaches to investigate biophysical interactions between homeodomain transcription factors and DNA
Biochimica et biophysica acta. Gene regulatory mechanisms2025Vol. 1868Issue #1 -
Transcription factor expression landscape in Drosophila embryonic cell lines
BMC genomics2024Vol. 25Issue #1 -
Supporting the democratization of science during a pandemic: genomics Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs) as an effective remote learning strategy
Journal of microbiology & biology education2023Vol. 24Issue #3 -
The Dictyostelium discoideum genome lacks significant DNA methylation and uncovers palindromic sequences as a source of false positives in bisulfite sequencing
NAR Genomics and BioinformaticsJune2023 -
Investigating the sequence landscape in the Drosophila initiator core promoter element using an enhanced MARZ algorithm.
PeerJ2023Issue #11 -
Transcriptome profile in Drosophila Kc and S2 embryonic cell lines.
G3: Genes|Genomes|GeneticsMay2023 -
Fitting thermodynamic-based models: Incorporating parameter sensitivity improves the performance of an evolutionary algorithm.
Mathematical Biosciences2021 -
Biophysical and structural analysis of Drosophila transcription factors
Protein Science2019Vol. 28 -
Biophysical and structural analysis of Antennapedia and Ultrabithorax homeodomain transcription factor-DNA binding affinities
Protein Science2019Vol. 28 -
Analyzing the stability of gene expression using a simple reaction-diffusion model in an early Drosophila embryo
Mathematical biosciences2019Vol. 316 -
Rapid and efficient purification of Drosophila homeodomain transcription factors for biophysical characterization
Protein expression and purification2019Vol. 158 -
Biophysical and structural analysis of Drosophila transcription factors
Next-in-BIO 2018Worcester MANovember2018 -
Whole genome bisulfite sequencing reveals a sparse, but robust pattern of DNA methylation in the Dictyostelium discoideum genome
BIORXIV2017 -
Spatial distribution of predicted transcription factor binding sites in Drosophila ChIP peaks
Mechanisms of development2016Vol. 141 -
Parent-of-origin effects on genome-wide DNA methylation in the Cape honey bee (Apis mellifera capensis) may be confounded by allele-specific methylation
BMC genomics2016Vol. 17 -
Nucleotide Interdependency in Transcription Factor Binding Sites in the Drosophila Genome
Gene regulation and systems biology2016Vol. 10 -
Global sensitivity analysis of a dynamic model for gene expression in Drosophila embryos
PeerJ2015Vol. 3 -
MARZ: an algorithm to combinatorially analyze gapped n-mer models of transcription factor binding
BMC bioinformatics2015Vol. 16 -
A parent-of-origin effect on honeybee worker ovary size
Proceedings. Biological sciences2014Vol. 281Issue #1775 -
The dynamic DNA methylation cycle from egg to sperm in the honey bee Apis mellifera
Development (Cambridge, England)2014Vol. 141Issue #13 -
Deciphering the combinatorial architecture of a Drosophila homeotic gene enhancer
Mechanisms of development2014Vol. 131 -
Whole-genome DNA methylation profile of the jewel wasp (Nasonia vitripennis)
G3 (Bethesda, Md.)2014Vol. 4Issue #3 -
Flanking sequence context-dependent transcription factor binding in early Drosophila development
BMC bioinformatics2013Vol. 14 -
Kin conflict in insect societies: a new epigenetic perspective
Trends in ecology & evolution2012Vol. 27Issue #7 -
Molecular dissection of cis-regulatory modules at the Drosophila bithorax complex reveals critical transcription factor signature motifs
Developmental biology2011Vol. 359Issue #2 -
Transcription factor binding site redundancy in embryonic enhancers of the Drosophila bithorax complex
G3 (Bethesda, Md.)2011Vol. 1Issue #7 -
Transcriptional repression by the proximal exonic region at the human TERT gene
Gene2011Vol. 486Issue #1-2 -
Disruption of the abdominal-B promoter tethering element results in a loss of long-range enhancer-directed Hox gene expression in Drosophila
PloS one2011Vol. 6Issue #1 -
Characterization of an ultra-conserved putative cis-regulatory module at the mammalian telomerase reverse transcriptase gene
DNA and cell biology2010Vol. 29Issue #9 -
Dissecting the regulatory switches of development: lessons from enhancer evolution in Drosophila
Development (Cambridge, England)2010Vol. 137Issue #1 -
Functional evolution of cis-regulatory modules at a homeotic gene in Drosophila
PLoS genetics2009Vol. 5Issue #11 -
Identification of novel components of the retinal determination gene network in Drosophila cell lines
Open Biology -
Dissecting the function of the DNMT2-homolog (DNMA) in Dictyostelium discoideum
Genetics -
Biophysical DNA binding activities of the EVEN-SKIPPED and FUSHI-TARAZU homeodomain transcription factors
Plos Genetics
Awards and grants
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Regulation of twin of eyeless in the retinal determination gene network in Drosophila
NSF
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Investigating the function of the DNMT2-homolog (DNMA) in Dictyostelium discoideum
NSF
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Deciphering the role of coacting enhancers in twin of eyeless regulation during Drosophila embryonic development
NIH
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Investigating the molecular mechanisms of transcriptional regulation at Drosophila homeotic genes
National Institutes of Health
May. 1, 2020 – Apr. 30, 2024 -
Decoding cis-regulatory grammar at Hox genes
National Institutes of Health
Apr. 1, 2016 – Mar. 31, 2020