Charles David Allis

Charles David Allis (born March 22, 1951) is an American molecular biologist, and is currently the Joy and Jack Fishman Professor and Head of the Laboratory of Chromatin Biology and Epigenetics at The Rockefeller University. He was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2001.^[1] He was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 2005.

In pursuit of understanding the DNA-histone protein complex and the intricate system which allows for gene activation, the Allis lab focuses on chromatin signaling via histone modifications - acetylation, methylation and phosphorylation.

Allis was the first to mechanistically link histone acetylation to transcription activation. In 1996, Allis and colleagues discovered that a histone acetyltransferase from Tetrahymena was the homologue of a transcriptional co-activator from yeast (GCN5). Histone acetylation as well as other modifications (methylation, phosphorilation, ubiquitination) may frame the "Histone Code" or "Epigenetic Code." While the DNA code is responsible for the sequence of RNA's and proteins, the Histone Code may ultimately be responsible for the epigenetic regulation of this genetic information.

References

1. ^ "Book of Members, 1780-2010: Chapter A". American Academy of Arts and Sciences. http://www.amacad.org/publications/BookofMembers/ChapterA.pdf. Retrieved 15 April 2011. 

External links

• Allis Lab at The Rockefeller University
• National Academy of Sciences Profile of C. David Allis
• ISI Highly Cited Researchers

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Name	Allis, C David
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Date of birth	March 22, 1951
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