Diversity

is a major strength of our Genetics Program. Training is truly inter-institutional and is available in three different types of scientific environments. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory is a world-renowned, free-standing biological research institution that has played a major role in the development of modern genetics and molecular biology. Brookhaven National Laboratory is one of several large national research laboratories sponsored by the United States Department of Energy and carries out basic and applied research in the physical, biomedical, and environmental sciences.

The University at Stony Brook is a full campus of the State University of New York and is particularly well-known for its strong research programs in the biological and physical sciences. This diversity is also reflected in the variety of research topics and experimental systems available to our graduate students. Thesis research projects are available in over 100 different laboratories studying a variety of topics including: chromosome structure and function; transposable elements; DNA replication; cell cycle control; signal transduction; regulation of transcription and RNA splicing; the molecular genetics of cancer; behavioral genetics; developmental genetics; bacterial and viral pathogenesis; population genetics; and molecular evolution. The genetic systems employed in these studies include vertebrates, invertebrates, plants, yeasts, cellular slime molds, bacteria, and prokaryotic and eukaryotic viruses.

The philosophy

of the program is to expose students to all the perspectives of the program, regardless of their eventual area of specialization. The future of genetics will involve increasing communication between different areas of genetics (such as molecular genetics, developmental genetics, population genetics and evolutionary genetics) as well as other disciplines such as biochemistry and cell biology. By giving students in the program a working knowledge in all areas, we attempt to prepare them for the genetics of the future. One of the lessons of genetic research in the last thirty years is that a broad scientific background will better prepare you to make significant discoveries and contributions to the field. This philosophy is intrinsic to the Graduate Program in Genetics. We believe that no one department or institution can provide the breadth of research experience required to train the next generation of geneticists. As a result, the Genetics Program at Stony Brook was created as an inter-institutional program, focusing and combining the strengths in genetics at the State University Of New York at Stony Brook, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, and Brookhaven National Laboratory. Together these three institutions provide one of the strongest and broadest genetics graduate programs in the country.