Massachusetts Institute of Technology · BiologyGrossman Lab
Alan D Grossman · Cambridge, Massachusetts
Research Focus
Professor Alan D. Grossman and his lab at MIT study how bacteria share and acquire genes through a process called horizontal gene transfer. They focus on understanding the roles of mobile genetic elements, like plasmids and conjugative elements, in bacterial evolution and survival, particularly using Bacillus subtilis as a model organism. The research aims to uncover the interactions between these elements and how they can affect the behavior and characteristics of bacterial populations.
horizontal gene transferBacillus subtilismobile genetic elementsbacteriophagesantibiotic resistancegene regulationbacterial evolutionconjugative elementsbacterial genomes
Research Aims
5AIM 01Investigate the mechanisms of horizontal gene transfer in bacteria.
AIM 02Examine the interactions between mobile genetic elements and bacterial viruses.
AIM 03Determine the effects of mobile genetic elements on bacterial fitness and survival.
AIM 04Uncover how these elements influence gene expression and cell cycle regulation.
AIM 05Explore the evolutionary implications of gene transfer in microbial populations.
Skills the Lab Values
cell culturebacterial geneticsDNA manipulationPCRmolecular cloninggenetic engineeringmicroscopybioinformaticsbiofilm assays
Output against the department
Publications200top 33% of dept.336th of 1,033
this lab
most publishedleast published
Citations20ktop 20% of dept.202nd of 1,033
this lab
most citedleast cited
Career totals from OpenAlex, compared against labs that share a department. A department spans everything from one paper to tens of thousands, so bar heights are on a log scale — otherwise the largest lab would flatten every other bar to a line.