Thesis supervisor: Gergely Szöllősi
co-supervisor: Imre Derényi
Location of studies (in Hungarian): ELTE Abbreviation of location of studies: ELTE
Description of the research topic:
Protecting genetic information from mutations is an essential task of all living cells. These mutations arise largely from replication errors during cell division and if they accumulate, they lead unwanted somatic changes, such as the development of cancerous tumors. For this reason the self-renewing and growing tissues which have to produce a large number of functional cells during the lifetime of an organism are subjected to increased risk. To mitigate this risk there must be a biological mechanism fine tuned by natural selection capable of keeping the number of divisions low along any individual cell lineage. The PhD candidate will work to develop mathematical models of tissue dynamics that is governed only by the spatial position of cells. He or she will use such spatially explicit tissue models, where possible, to derive analytical results on optimal pattern of division rates that lead to sufficiently low number of cell divisions to explain the resistance of constantly growing tissues such as meristems to somatic evolution. For scenarios that are too complex to be amicable to analytical treatment the PhD candidate will use computational methods, such as genetic algorithms, to explore the space of possible solutions. References: Derenyi, I & Szollosi, GJ Hierarchical tissue organization as a general mechanism to limit the accumulation of somatic mutations Nature Communications 14545 (2017) https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms14545
Required language skills: English Number of students who can be accepted: 1
Deadline for application: 2018-05-31
2024. IV. 17. ODT ülés Az ODT következő ülésére 2024. június 14-én, pénteken 10.00 órakor kerül sor a Semmelweis Egyetem Szenátusi termében (Bp. Üllői út 26. I. emelet).
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