Research in the Nuñez lab centers on epigenetics - chemical modifications on DNA and histones that are critical for regulating gene expression. A particular focus is DNA methylation, the most abundant epigenetic modification in humans that is highly altered in disease and throughout aging. Using a combination of functional genomics, CRISPR genome and epigenome editing, and stem cell models of neuronal differentiation, they aim to unlock how DNA methylation is established on the human genome, why neurons encode unique DNA methylation patterns, and why misregulation of DNA methylation is associated with disease. In parallel, the Nuñez lab innovates CRISPR-based epigenetic editing technologies for use in fundamental research and as potential therapeutic modalities.

James Nuñez is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology at the University of California, Berkeley and an Investigator of the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub San Francisco. James earned his PhD at the University of California, Berkeley, with Dr Jennifer Doudna and completed his postdoctoral training with Dr Jonathan Weissman at UCSF where he pioneered the CRISPRoff/on technologies for epigenetic editing. James has been recognized as a Hanna Gray Fellow of HHMI, a Pew Biomedical Scholar, and an Alfred P Sloan Research Fellow.

Nuñez Lab