Jackson Laboratory

The Dumont Lab

Principal Investigator: Beth Dumont, Ph.D.

The Jackson Laboratory
Bar Harbor, ME

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Researching the mechanisms that generate genetic diversity through the lens of evolution

Our Research Focus

The broad objective of my research program is to understand the causes and consequences of variation in the cellular mechanisms that govern DNA inheritance: genetic recombination, chromosome segregation, and de novo mutation. To date, my work has combined wet-bench and computational approaches in multiple mammalian model systems to investigate variation in two recombination mechanisms, crossing-over and gene conversion. Over the next several years, my research group will work at the leading edge of genomics, evolutionary genetics, and cytogenetics to advance our understanding of recombination rate variation from diverse biological perspectives.

Full Scientific Report

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Open Positions

Job	Job Title	Location	Description

Lab Staff

Uma Arora

PhD Student

Investigating the composition and diversity of centromeric sequence amongst Mus musculus subspecies and autosomes vs sex chromosomes to understand their significance in evolution.
Laura Blanco-Berdugo, MS

Research Assistant II

Interested in genetic diversity and evolution of wild and wild-derived mice
Beth Dumont, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor
Brett Haines, B.S.

Research Assistant
Raman Akinyanju Lawal, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Associate

Unraveling the patterns of genetic mechanisms that give rise to genetic diversity in house mouse populations.

Selected Publications

Highlighted Abstract

Knowledge of the rate and pattern of new mutation is critical to the understanding of human disease and evolution. We used extensive autozygosity in a genealogically well-defined population of Hutterites to estimate the human sequence mutation rate over multiple generations. We sequenced whole genomes from 5 parent-offspring trios and identified 44 segments of autozygosity. Using the number of meioses separating each pair of autozygous alleles and the 72 validated heterozygous single-nucleotide variants (SNVs) from 512 Mb of autozygous DNA, we obtained an SNV mutation rate of 1.20 × 10(-8) (95% confidence interval 0.89-1.43 × 10(-8)) mutations per base pair per generation. The mutation rate for bases within CpG dinucleotides (9.72 × 10(-8)) was 9.5-fold that of non-CpG bases, and there was strong evidence (P = 2.67 × 10(-4)) for a paternal bias in the origin of new mutations (85% paternal). We observed a non-uniform distribution of heterozygous SNVs (both newly identified and known) in the autozygous segments (P = 0.001), which is suggestive of mutational hotspots or sites of long-range gene conversion.

View full list of publications

Research HighlightOctober 31, 2019
Improving transgene research with split selectable markers
JAX Assistant Professor Albert Cheng led a team to develop split selectable markers, a method that can indicate the successful integration of multiple transgenes.
Featured ArticleOctober 28, 2019
Cancer researchers embrace AI to accelerate development of precision medicine
Using Microsoft AI, The Jackson Laboratory is empowering researchers and medical professionals with a powerful digital encyclopedia that has the potential to change the way we study and treat cancer.
Research HighlightSeptember 20, 2019
An epigenetic eraser
The genome editing tool, Casilio, can be used to efficiently remove methyl groups from DNA and activate expression of methylation-silenced genes in experimental systems. Casilio was created by Jackson Laboratory Assistant Professor Albert Cheng.
Research HighlightAugust 21, 2019
The future of human and experimental genetics
This year, science luminaries came to Maine for an additional special symposium that celebrated the McKusick Short Course's 60th anniversary. The symposium title, “The Future of Human and Experimental Genetics,” foreshadowed the theme of the talks.

Blog PostOctober 28, 2019
New US Preventive Services Task Force recommendations
The USPSTF updated this important screening recommendation in August, 2019. It now recommends screening for potentially harmful BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene mutations in women with a personal or family history of breast, ovarian, tubal, or peritoneal cancer or an ancestry associated with BRCA1/2 gene mutations.
Search MagazineOctober 02, 2019
Maximizing research potential
Six JAX early-career faculty members receive major grant awards.
Search MagazineSeptember 04, 2019
Computing the etiology of cancer
What if, much like screening through genetic testing, we could learn how to better treat individual patients through their unique epigenetic markers? This is the question that Assistant Professor Sheng Li, Ph.D. tackles in her lab every day.
Research HighlightAugust 21, 2019
The long-term maintenance of sperm production in mammals
A research team led by Professor and Janeway Distinguished Chair Robert Braun, Ph.D., and Associate Research Scientist Manju Sharma, Ph.D., found a rare subpopulation of spermatogonial cells expressing a specific protein, EOMES, that appear to represent the elusive long-lived spermatogonial stem cells that support continued spermatogenesis.