Cedric Feschotte, professor, molecular biology and genetics
Academic focus: Genome biology and evolution, mobile DNA, endogenous viruses
Previous positions: professor, Department of Human Genetics, University of Utah School of Medicine.
Academic background: B.Sc., Université Paul Sabatier, Toulouse, France, 1996; Ph.D. Université Pierre & Marie Curie, Paris, France, 2001
Last book read: “Le Horla,” by Guy de Maupassant (1887); “Thelonious Monk, The Life and Times of an American Original,” by Robin DG Kelley (2010)
What do you do when not working? Traveling and hiking with family; playing, listening, collecting music (mostly jazz); enjoys dangerous rides: skateboard, snowboard, mountain bike, motorcycle
What gets you out of bed in the morning? Connecting the dots. Exploring uncharted territories of our own genetic material, the “dark matter” of the genome. The grin of my trainees in those eureka moments. Sharing my passion for the living world and all of its evolutionary oddities.
Current research projects? We do science that sounds like science fiction, but really is science! For instance, we study human genes that were stolen from selfish genetic elements like viruses. When and how did that happen? What kind of benefits do these virus-derived genes bring to us?
Courses you’re most looking forward to teaching? Anything related to evolution and genetics, at any level!
What most excites you about Cornell CALS? The breadth of life sciences and the diversity of organisms studied within CALS are phenomenal and I really dig that.
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