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Expert on chromatin and its DNA organizer function
Geneviève Almouzni is an Algerian microbiologist, born in 1960.
Almouzni studies the transmission of genetic
information and epigenetics in the eukaryotic
cell, and the potential impact of errors in the
regulation of this transmission, in particular, in
cancer cells. Her research provides key insights in the prevention of cancer.
The DNA of which genes are made is nothing more than a two meter long tape that
stores information in a cell nucleus of a few
microns. Understanding what mechanisms
allow access and use of that information is
the object of epigenetics. Epigenetics studies
the factors of the cell's environment, the
chemical reactions and other processes
which can regulate and control the expression of genes without affecting their composition or sequence.
Within this field of study, Almouzni has focused
on looking at the role of certain proteins in the
development of tumours, in particular the role of histones and chromatin in the control of
gene activity.
From 2013 Genevieve Almouzni is director of
the Curie Institute Research Centre, the first
woman to occupy this position since Marie
Curie and her daughter Irene Curie. She has
received the EMBO Women in Science Award,
and is a member of the American Association
for the Advancement of Science and of the
French Academy of Sciences.