Daniel J. Davis, PhD

University of Missouri – Columbia (MU)

My research interests include genetic engineering, molecular genetics, CRISPR-Cas technology, and creating animal models to study human diseases. Expansion of genetic engineering methods will not only allow for more efficient animal model creation but can also be adaptable for potential human gene therapy applications. We have projects focused on the generation and characterization of animal models to study specific human-variant alleles of a rare neurodevelopmental disorder (Baker-Gordon syndrome) caused by mutations in the SYT1 gene. These projects involve modeling human patient mutations in a variety of different model systems to study gene function as well as characterize the downstream effects of the mutant allele. In addition to the molecular and phenotypic characterization we are also able to provide an animal model that can be used for testing treatments or gene therapy approaches.