Wallace Marshall

Dr. Wallace Marshall, a Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics at the University of California, San Francisco, is interested in how cells solve geometry problems. Cells are not bags of enzymes, they have complex three-dimensional structures. But where does the information come from that determines the structure of a cell? Why do different cell types have different architectures, and how does the structure of a cell affect its function? These are fundamental questions whose answers remain largely unknown. The lab's goal is to ask how cells solve specific types of geometry problems, focusing on the organelle as a fundamental unit of cellular organization. What determines the size, shape, number, and position of organelles? Answering these questions is what drives their science.