Vipin Babu graduated from Bangalore University, India, in 2007 with Bachelor of Science in Genetics, Biotechnology, and Biochemistry, and was awarded the “Best Student of the Course Award” (T. John College) for academic excellence. He completed Master of Science in Molecular Genetics from University of Leicester, UK in 2009.

He joined the IGS DHD PhD program in 2010. As a part of the program he completed three lab rotation projects.

  • “Study of valproic acid positive and negative responders in SMA therapy”, in the lab of Dr. Brunhilde Wirth, Institute of Human Genetics, University of Cologne.
  • “Identification of potential novel candidate genes in Drosophila abdominal epithelial cell replacement”, in the la of Dr. Mirka Uhlirova, Institute of Genetics, University of Cologne.
  • “Role of cep-1/p53 in nucleotide excision repair mutants”, in the lab of Dr. Bjoern Schumacher, Institute of Genetics, University of Cologne.

Since October 2010 he has been working on his Ph.D. project in the lab of Dr. Bjoern Schumacher.

Identification of novel genes involved in nucleotide excision DNA repair

All living organisms encounter genotoxic stress from various endogenous and exogenous sources in their day to day life. These insults could threaten the genomic integrity by producing mutation-causing DNA damages. To repair various types of DNA damages, organisms are equipped with different DNA damage repair mechanisms.  Nucleotide excision repair is one such DNA repair mechanism and plays an important role in removing DNA helix-distorting lesions, which are induced by ultra-violet light and could interfere with vital processes like replication and transcription. The vital importance of nucleotide excision repair is highlighted by the existence of genetic disorders in which impaired DNA repair predisposes patients to premature aging and cancer. The project aims at improving our understanding of nucleotide excision repair mechanism by identifying novel genes involved in the process.