Vanessa Macias

UNT Faculty Profile:

https://biology.unt.edu/people/vanessa-macias

Research Interest: My lab is using molecular biology and genetic engineering approaches the basic biological process that make mosquitoes such potent vectors of disease. Specifically, we want to understand the mosquito's piRNA pathway, a small RNA pathway that uses sequence homology to recognize and create a memory of genetic invaders, such as the nucleic acid from viruses and transposons and maybe even from transgenes in genetically engineered mosquitoes. As we dig into the complex molecular mechanisms of this biology, we hope to make discoveries that will help us develop and support new genetic technologies for controlling mosquito-borne disease.