The environment plays a major role in human health. Nearly a quarter of all disease burden and premature mortality deaths are attributable to environmental factors, especially in the least developed regions of the world. Globally, the contamination of soil and water resources by toxic heavy metals is a problem that grows as the demand for usable land and potable water increases. Similarly, the worldwide impact of parasitic organisms is profound, as they cause a range of health, veterinary, and agricultural problems.

Current research in the Jez lab employs a combination of x-ray crystallography, enzymology, molecular biology, proteomics, and cell biology to understand the molecular foundations of heavy metal detoxification in plants and to explore new metabolic pathways in nematodes that are of possible pharmaceutical interest. Deciphering how plants protect themselves against toxic heavy metals, such as cadmium, mercury, arsenic, and lead, forms the experimental foundation for engineering the inherent chemistry of plants to deliver a healthier environment. Likewise, exploring new metabolic pathways not found in host organisms, or adaptations for parasitism, raises the promise of developing the next generation of nematicidal drugs with target specificity and minimal side-effects.

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Some recent research projects in the Jez lab have examined how protein-protein interactions modulate the synthesis of cysteine in plants (a), the evolutionary basis of methionine biosynthesis in bacteria (b), engineering plants for improved heavy metal detoxification properties (c), redox-regulation of glutathione synthesis in plants (d), and the chemcial and kinetic mechanisms of multiple enzymes from plants and nematodes (e).