Suckjoon Jun, Ph.D.

Research

Our lab studies the relationship between growth and the cell cycle in bacteria. Virtually all organisms in nature, from bacteria to humans, show a relatively narrow range of cell-size distribution. This is a strong indication that life has evolved to regulate cell division, and the cell maintains a size that is appropriate for a given growth condition. We will use genomic sequencing and the "mother machine," a microfluidic device developed in my lab for study of a large number of individual cells, to identify the cells that show abnormal growth and division under normal conditions. This work will allow us to answer three questions ranging from the molecular to the cellular level: how DNA replication is related to cell division, how the cell division frequency is linked to cell growth, and how cell death is related to growth physiology. The answers to these questions could have profound implications on our understanding of the growth of all cells, and will in the future help us better approach diseases caused by the misregulation of growth and the cell cycle.