Kathleen Collins | Research UC Berkeley

Kathleen Collins posing in a laboratory.

Photo credit: Brittany Hosea-Small

Research Expertise and Interest

biology, biochemistry, biotechnology of retroelements, retroelement reverse transcriptases, function RNAs

Research Description

Kathleen Collins is a professor in the Department of Molecular & Cell Biology. The Collins Lab is applying their insights from decades of studying telomerase and telomere maintenance to investigate eukaryotic retroelements, their reverse transcriptases, and the biogenesis and RNP assembly of processed RNA used as template for nick-primed cDNA synthesis. Site-specific targeting of transgene cDNA insertion has promise as a genome engineering method complementary to CRISPR/Cas. Also, retroelement reverse transcriptases have fascinating biochemical properties that they are discovering and exploiting for RNA-seq. Their new approaches for cDNA library production capture comprehensive, end-to-end RNA sequence inventory of even fragmented or damaged RNAs.

In the News

small brown bird with yellow patch near eye, and two birds with orange beaks

Junk DNA in Birds May Hold Key to Safe, Efficient Gene Therapy

A new technique called Precise RNA-mediated INsertion of Transgenes, or PRINT, was developed in the laboratory of Kathleen Collins, professor of molecular and cell biology.

Image montage graphic of a Tesla car, Iphone, lab beakers and satellite photo of earth. Interlaced with a filter with colors red, blue and yellow.

A History of Innovation: Berkeley Entrepreneurs, Companies that Changed the Way We Live

The culture and spirit of innovation at UC Berkeley throughout history can be seen in the changemakers who have helped in countless ways to improve our lives and our world.

Nine faculty elected to American Academy of Arts and Sciences

Nine UC Berkeley faculty members from a wide range of disciplines have been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (AAAS), a 240-year-old organization honoring the country’s most accomplished artists, scholars, scientists and leaders.

A visualization of human telomerase. Chromosomes in a blue x. Line of enzymes, the closest red, the next blue, and then purple

Long-sought structure of telomerase paves way for drugs for aging, cancer

While neither telomerase-based anti-aging drugs, touted as a “fountain of youth,” nor anticancer drugs have yet appeared, the publication today of the first detailed picture of the molecular structure of human telomerase should jump-start that effort.

Trading in the Scalpel for a Sharper Blade

Bakar Fellow Kathy Collins develops techniques to capture genetic information embedded in cancer cells’ RNA — a new tool to improve cancer diagnosis and treatment.

Loading Class list ...