Academic Affiliation
Professor, School of Life Sciences in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
Credentials
PhD, University of California
Bio
Professor Bertram Jacobs, PhD, strives to understand the molecular mechanisms of the action of interferon, particularly as they concern control of gene expression at the level of translation. As principal investigator, Dr. Jacobs conducts his research at the Biodesign Institute Center for Infectious Diseases and Vaccinology at Arizona State University.
One of the most interesting set of recent results from the lab has to do with the molecular function of a kinase inhibitor, the product of the vaccinia virus E3L gene. Dr. Jacobs’ team has shown that this protein binds to Z-form nucleic acid and that this binding is essential for pathogenicity of vaccinia virus in a mouse-model system. This is the first example of a biological function for Z-DNA/RNA binding and may lead to a better understanding of the role of Z-form nucleic acid in biology.
Before coming to ASU, Dr. Jacobs was a postdoctoral associate and lecturer for four years at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
In 2000, Dr. Jacobs was a distinguished visiting professor at the National Center for Biotechnology in Madrid, Spain. And, in 1991, he was a visiting research scientist of the National Cancer Institute at the Frederick Cancer Research Center.
Dr. Jacobs is a recipient of the Quality Teaching Award from the ASU College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.
After earning a BS in biology from Rutgers University in Newark, N.J., Dr. Jacobs continued his education at the University of California, Berkeley, where he received his PhD in biochemistry.