MSEM Professor Deneb Karentz is publishing a paper in the journal Photochemistry and Photobiology titled: "Beyond Xeroderma Pigmentosum: DNA Damage and
Repair in an Ecological Context, A Tribute to James E. Cleaver." Here is the abstract:
The ability to repair DNA is a ubiquitous characteristic of life on
Earth and all organisms possess similar mechanisms for dealing with
DNA damage, an indication of a very early evolutionary origin for
repair processes. James E. Cleaver's career (initiated in the early
1960s) has been devoted to the study of mammalian ultraviolet
radiation (UVR) photobiology, specifically the molecular genetics of
xeroderma pigmentosum and other human diseases caused by defects in
DNA damage recognition and repair. This work by Jim and others has
influenced the study of DNA damage and repair in a variety of taxa.
Today, the field of DNA repair is enhancing our understanding of not
only how to treat and prevent human disease, but is providing
insights on the evolutionary history of life on Earth and how
natural populations are coping with UVR-induced DNA damage from
anthropogenic changes in the environment such as ozone depletion.