Education
Dean was educated at the, where she was awarded a Bachelor of Arts degree in Biology in 1978 and a Doctor of Philosophy in 1982.
Dean was educated at the, where she was awarded a Bachelor of Arts degree in Biology in 1978 and a Doctor of Philosophy in 1982.
Dean"s research has been funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Council and focuses on:
"the timing of the transition to reproductive development in plants. The acceleration of flowering by prolonged cold is a classic epigenetic process called vernalization. The study of this and parallel genetic pathways has led us into the dissection of conserved chromatin silencing mechanisms involving non-coding RNAs.
Our recent work has focused on a mechanistic understanding of vernalization and on the pathways that determine a requirement for vernalization.
These pathways converge on a gene that encodes a floral repressor called FLC. We analyse how these pathways intersect during development, in different environmental conditions, and through evolution. This takes us into the analysis of what regulates reproductive strategy in plants.
We use Arabidopsis as a reference to establish the regulatory hierarchy and then translate our findings into other species.".
Royal Society; National Academy of Sciences.