Peter Byers, professor of pathology and of medicine, worked recently with Andrew Hsu, age 11, on a project to isolate the mouse and human type XX collagen gene, COL20A1. Working with Byers and James Pace, a postdoctoral fellow in pathology, Hsu received a Silver Medal at the Washington State Science and Engineering Fair in the High School Division. Spending many hours in the lab and on the computer, Hsu is working to complete his research on the gene.
Byers has mentored young scientists in the past, working with pre-college students at Garfield High School to generate interest researching inherited connective tissue disorders.
Byers' laboratory focuses on inherited connective tissue disorders to identify mutations in collagen genes and to determine how these mutations give rise to different disorders, including forms of Osteogenesis Imperfecta, Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, and some other conditions. Pace recently identified a new collagen gene, COL27A1, which, like the COL20A1 that Andrew worked on, will allow the lab to expand their focus to new genetic disorders.
April 25, 2003