What we do
We study how transcription factors regulate gene expression, how they increase DNA mutagenesis by competing with DNA repair, and how gene regulation is modulated by CRISPR-Cas systems.
Explore our research ›
Welcome to the Gordân Lab!
Protein-DNA interactions govern how genomes are regulated, maintained, and engineered. Our laboratory studies the molecular principles underlying these interactions to better understand gene regulation, genome stability, and to improve the precision of genome editing.
What we do
Why we do itUnderstanding genome biology, and ultimately engineering it, requires a quantitative, mechanistic understanding of how the genome is being recognized and altered by DNA-binding proteins.
How we do itWe combine high-throughput technologies, quantitative biochemistry, genomic analyses, and machine learning to build mechanistic models of protein-DNA binding and subsequent cellular activity.
Who we are
We are a collaborative team of experimental and computational scientists with a shared interest in protein-DNA interactions and their roles in cellular processes.
Meet the lab ›Latest news
Michael and Raluca presented our latest dCas9 results at the CSHL Genome Engineering meeting.
Our latest work on the interplay between transcription factors and UV damage/repair is officially out in Nature Communications. Congratulations to all authors!
Yuncheng, Raluca, and our collaborator Dr. Miles Pufall taught the “Computational Thinking for Academic Bioscientists” 2-week course at the University of Iowa.
Raluca gave a RegSys keynote talk at the ISMB 2026 meeting in Washington, DC.
Research highlights
2026 · bioRxiv
Quantitative profiling of intrinsic dCas9-DNA recognition reveals key determinants of guide RNA performance
Zhu W, Tian M, Duan Y, Reisman S, Miller S, Corden E, ter Weele M, Song L, Blount J, Safi A, Schreiber J, Gersbach C, Crawford G, Gordân R
2026 · Nature Communications
High-throughput characterization of transcription factors that modulate UV damage formation and repair at single-nucleotide resolution
Wasserman H, Chi B, Bohm K, Duan M, Sahay H, Safi A, Crawford G, Mao P, Wyrick J, Pufall M, Gordân R
2025 · Cell
DNA mutagenesis driven by transcription factor competition with mismatch repair
Zhu W, Zhang Y, Sahay H, Wasserman H, Afek A, Williams J, Shaltz S, Johnson C, Pinheiro K, MacAlpine D, Weninger K, Erie D, Jinks-Robertson S, Gordân R
2023 · PNAS
UV irradiation remodels the specificity landscape of transcription factors
Mielko Z, Zhang Y, Sahay H, Liu Y, Schaich M, Schnable B, Morrison A, Burdinski D, Adar S, Pufall M, Van Houten B, Gordân R, Afek A
2021 · Genome Research
Competition for DNA binding between paralogous transcription factors determines their genomic occupancy and regulatory functions
Zhang Y, Ho T, Buchler N, Gordân R
2020 · Nature
DNA mismatches reveal conformational penalties in protein-DNA recognition
Afek A, Shi H, Rangadurai A, Sahay H, Senitzki A, Xhani S, Fang M, Salinas R, Mielko Z, Pufall M, Poon G, Haran T, Schumacher M, Al-Hashimi H, Gordân R