Dr. Chua's laboratory is interested in understanding molecular processes that underlie aging and age-associated pathologies in mammals. They focus on a family of genes, the SIRTs, which regulate stress resistance and lifespan in lower organisms such as yeast, worms, and flies. In mammals, they recently uncovered a number of ways in which SIRT factors may contribute to cellular and organismal aging by regulating resistance to various forms of stress. They have now begun to characterize the molecular mechanisms by which these SIRT factors function. In particular, they are interested in how SIRT factors regulate chromatin, the molecular structure in which the DNA of mammalian genomes is packaged, and how such functions may link genome maintenance to stress resistance and aging.