Michael Shin, Ph.D.

Genetics; Molecular Genetics

• Ph.D., New York University

• BIOL 160 Molecular and Cellular Biology
• BIOL 260 Genetics and Development
• BIOL 412 Cell Biology
• BIOL 417 Molecular Genetics

My lab focuses on molecular genetic research in the plant model system Arabidopsis thaliana, a mustard weed. Arabidopsis is an ideal system to do genetic research in because it possesses a number of ideal characteristics and an impressive array of available resources, including the completed sequence of its genome. My lab uses molecular genetic approaches to study the response of plants to metal ions (which has potential applications in phytoremediation). If you are interested in either project and would like to find out more information, please feel free to drop by my office (J255) and chat or contact me at: MShin@Messiah.edu.

Professor of Biology

My lab focuses on molecular genetic research in the plant model system Arabidopsis thaliana, a mustard weed. Arabidopsis is an ideal system to do genetic research in because it possesses a number of ideal characteristics and an impressive array of available resources, including the completed sequence of its genome. My lab uses molecular genetic approaches to study aspects of abiotic stress in plants. If you are interested in, please feel free to drop by my office (J255) and chat or contact me at: MShin@Messiah.edu.

Phytoremediation of metal ions.

We are studying plants’ responses to abiotic stress, in particular metal ions in the environment. High levels of various metal ions (such as nickel, zinc, and cadmium ions, the ions we are currently of studying) in the soil can be highly toxic to plants. We want to understand at the molecular level the mechanisms by which plants respond to such environmental stress, including how they take up, transport, sequester, accumulate, and otherwise process metal ions from the environment. In order to accomplish this we will employ a combination of complementary approaches: forward genetics (mutant screening) and reverse genetics. Further, if we can understand the mechanisms by which plants normally respond to and process metal ions, then we have the potential to isolate or develop plants that are resistant to the toxicity or are more efficient at processing the metal. Thus, the findings of this work have potential applications in phytoremediation, the use of plants to take up, process, and otherwise clean pollutants, such as metal ions, from the environment. This work is done in collaboration with Dr. Rick Schaeffer from the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry.