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Eric Green, M.D., Ph.D. Scientific Director National Human Genome Research Institute Chief & Senior Investigator Genome Technology Branch Head Physical Mapping Section Director NIH Intramural Sequencing Center B.S. University of Wisconsin, Madison, 1981 M.D. Ph.D. Washington University (St. Louis), 1987 (301) 402-2023 (301) 402-2040 egreen@nhgri.nih.gov Building 50, Room 5222 50 South Dr, MSC 8002 Bethesda, MD 20892-8002 Selected Publications Current Topics in Genome Analysis 2008 Chromosome 7 Mapping and Sequencing NIH Intramural Sequencing Center (NISC) NISC 10th Anniversary Symposium

Dr. Green's research focuses on three major areas: (1) sequencing and comparing targeted stretches of DNA from a wide variety of species en route to unraveling the complexities of genome function, (2) developing innovative research tools and technologies for performing genome analysis, and (3) identifying and characterizing genes associated with human disease. In his multiple roles as Scientific Director of NHGRI, Chief of the Genome Technology Branch, and Director of the NIH Intramural Sequencing Center (NISC) [nisc.nih.gov], he has fundamental interests in mapping, sequencing,and interpreting vertebrate genomes.

The major activities in Dr. Green's laboratory, performed in partnership with NISC, center on a novel comparative sequencing program. Specifically, targeted regions of the human genome are selected and then mapped and sequenced in multiple other vertebrates, including a diverse set of primates, numerous other mammals (including marsupials and monotremes), birds, fish, amphibians, and reptiles. The resulting data sets are providing unprecedented abilities to perform evolutionarily diverse sequence comparisons.

In some cases, Dr. Green and his colleagues search for sequences conserved over tens of millions of years of evolution; such sequences are more likely to play important functional roles. In other cases, they examine sequence differences among closely related species (such as groups of primates), revealing more recent genomic changes. In essence, Dr. Green's group uses the detailed records of evolution embedded within all species' DNA to help decode the human genome.

Although Dr. Green's comparative sequencing program is extensive and produces large amounts of new data, it is essentially a reconnaissance effort to identify the most promising genomes to sequence, develop new analytical methods for extracting biological information from sequence comparisons, and forge new paths to facilitate the comprehensive understanding of complex genomes. His program also has laid important groundwork for NHGRI's ENCODE (Encyclopedia of DNA Elements) Project, an effort to identify all functional elements in the human genome. ENCODE's initial goals involve the focused study of a selected one percent (~30 Mb) of the human genome, distributed across 44 regions. As major participants in ENCODE, Dr. Green's laboratory and NISC are responsible for the bulk of the multispecies sequencing of these genomic regions.

In parallel with unraveling the complexities of genome function through large-scale comparative genomics, Dr. Green's laboratory also seeks to understand the genetic basis for certain human diseases. To date, his group has identified genes associated with hereditary deafness (Pendred syndrome), vascular disease, cancer, and neurological disease (Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease). Such discoveries have provided new opportunities to study the function of individual genes and the proteins they encode, to define the pathological consequences of disease-associated mutations, and to generate animal models of these disorders. Increasingly, these studies of human genetic diseases involve the use of large-scale medical sequencing, which is also being performed in partnership with NISC.

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Last Updated: August 1, 2008