Unlocking the mysteries of the genome
Unlocking the mysteries of the genome
Unlocking genetic differences between humans and other species could uncover more effective tests and cures for diseases – and like much fundamental research, it also leads to many interesting discoveries along the way.
Dr. Mary O’Connell, senior lecturer and Fulbright scholar at Dublin City University’s School of Biotechnology, carries out fundamental research into molecular evolutionary patterns, processes and theory. “My research is focused on trying to understand the molecular mechanisms that have facilitated organisms’ adaptation to their ecological niche,” she explains.
Clearly enthusiastic about her work, she says there’s a “massive misconception or oversimplification about how evolution works – in fact, life is a highly complex and adaptive system and therefore evolution is also necessarily complex”. She continues: “Evolutionary biology is the study of things that have lived and things that currently live. It is a really vibrant, active area of research – how organisms have evolved to get around some obstacles in nature is truly staggering. New discoveries are constantly made about organisms that once lived on Earth and organisms that currently we share the planet with that we never knew about until now.”
Since obtaining her PhD in 2005, Dr O’Connell has published over 35 papers to date in international peer-reviewed journals. Asked what part of her research has produced surprising or unexpected results, she says with a laugh “nearly everything”.
She is quick to point out that she doesn’t see her publications as discrete pieces of work. “I see them as one big continuous story: the evolution of life”. Her work has been as varied as studying polar bears’ ability to eat a high-fat diet and yet remain healthy, or the differences between strains of the ‘superbug’ Clostridium difficile that cause serious illness and those that don’t. “Asking questions like how a bowhead whale got to be the size it was without getting cancer, or how the hummingbird evolved the ability to taste sweetness which allowed them to colonise a new ecological niche is all part of understanding how life evolves and how changes in an organism’s DNA can contribute to differential survival,” she says.
Dr O’Connell recently led a study which was featured in the “Editor’s Choice” section of the international journal Science. The study detailed a comparative analysis of the innate immune systems of humans and mice, and how understanding the evolution of these systems could shed light on better models for human disease. “If a reputable international journal says ‘this is important and the community needs to notice this work’, it is certainly a big thrill for my whole team and it is an indication that our work is having impact internationally,” she says.
“Some of our recent work brings us a little closer to understanding the relationship between the changes we see at the DNA level and the physical differences we observe between organisms,” she says, adding that the latest discovery is the “tip of the iceberg”.
“If we are to find the cures of the future, we are not going to find them by looking backwards; we need to fully and properly understand the organisms from the DNA level up. That’s why fundamental science is so important: how are you to know how something will be useful until it is discovered and how are you to fix/improve something substantially until you actually understand how it works – same goes for human health. We’re at the beginning of something really exciting,” she says.