"A ripple in the pond: understanding the cascading effects of mutation on cellular systems"

Kerry Geiler-Samerotte is an evolutionary cell biologist and assistant professor in the Center for Mechanisms of Evolution and School of Life Sciences at Arizona State University.

Geiler-Samerotte and her research team investigate how basic features of cells constrain or influence the way cells can evolve. To do this, the lab quantifies the impact of mutations on cell physiology and growth across fine environmental gradients. A major goal is to understand and predict when and why the impacts of a mutation change across contexts. Research in the Geiler-Samerotte lab combines high-throughput, high-precision laboratory experiments in yeast with computational and mathematical approaches.