Jerry Workman, PhD

Jerry Workman, PhD, focuses on studying the protein complexes that carry out modifications of histones, or balls of protein in DNA. He was one of the first scientists to discover that histone balls are crucial players in DNA's transcription into RNA. His laboratory at Stowers works with yeast, fruit flies, and mammalian cells to identify and study protein complexes that modify chromatin, the term for the whole DNA/protein package, for transcription and translation. He has identified several groups of proteins that spur histones to loosen their grip on DNA, leaving it open to enzymes that can read its code and turn on genes. In particular, Workman identified a collection of protein complexes in yeast that interact with both transcription factors and histones to help turn DNA into RNA. Workman also discovered SAGA, the most famous yeast protein complex, then figured out many of the molecular pathways in which it plays a part. Understanding histone modification has significant implications for natural phenomena such as cell replication and tissue development, as well as how these processes can go awry, causing cancer as well as other diseases.