The Hill Lab @ York
Molecular mechanisms of viral gene expression
Viruses do things differently
Translation of mRNA by the ribosome is essential for all life. It’s normally exceptionally accurate, with spontaneous error rates of only ~1 in 100,000 codons.
When RNA viruses infect cells, they use the ribosomes in the host cell to translate their genomes. However, they often force the ribosome to make 'mistakes' - e.g. shift into a different reading frame, initiate in a different place, or read through a stop codon.
These ‘forced errors’ are actually tightly-regulated events that are vitally important for viral gene expression. If disrupted, many viruses fail to complete their replication cycles. We're trying to better understand these events at a molecular level.
Join us!
Fully-funded PhD position
New PhD position available for October 2025 entry to work on structured RNA elements in FMDV. Fully funded for 3.5 years in collaboration with The Pirbright Institute.​ Closing date 3rd February.​​
​​
Please get in touch by email if you're interested.
Latest Publications
Find Us
Address
Department of Biology
University of York
Wentworth Way
York
United Kingdom
YO10 5DD
Contact
+44 (0)1904 328688