Dobbs Lab

Long-term research goals of the Dobbs group are to understand how proteins and nucleic acids achieve their functional three-dimensional structures and to elucidate mechanisms that determine recognition and regulate interactions among proteins, nucleic acids and other molecules in cells.  We use both computational and wet-lab experimental approaches to explore the structure and function of important macromolecular complexes, in close collaboration with several groups at Iowa State, University of Minnesota, and Harvard University.

 

Current areas of focus include: development of novel antiviral therapies against HIV-1 and other lentiviruses; rational design of zinc finger proteins (ZFPs) as tools for genomic modification and gene therapy; prediction of epitopes and nucleic acid binding residues in proteins; and prediction and experimental validation of structural and functional effects of mutations and SNPs in proteins.

 

Please see recent publications for additional details: http://ddobbs.public.iastate.edu/publications.html