Membrane Biology and Cystic Fibrosis
Cystic fibrosis (CF) is the most common fatal genetic illness for Caucasians in the U.S. Most patients with cystic fibrosis die of respiratory failure caused by chronic lung infection. This brings up questions: How do ions transport across airway, reproductive and intestinal tissues? How do water and gas transfer between blood and metabolizing tissues? Answering these questions and understanding the mechanisms that regulate transport can allow Dalton researchers to understand CF and find therapy for the gene mutations that cause it.