ABOUT ME

ALL ACADEMIC INFORMATION CAN BE REACHED VIA LINK:   https://aslitolun.wixsite.com/aslitolun

Education and Experience

Guest Professor Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Istanbul Technical University, 2019
Chair Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Boğaziçi University, 1996-2002
Prof. Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Boğaziçi University, 1989-2016 (retired)
Assoc. Prof. Biology Department (currently Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics), Boğaziçi University, 1984-89
Assist. Prof. Biology Department, Boğaziçi University, Istanbul, Turkey, 1982-84
Postdoctoral Fellow Biology Department, University of California San Diego, 1979-82
Ph.D. Scientific Microbiology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden (1979)
MS. Biophysics, Pennsylvania State University, USA (1973)
BS. Physics, Robert College (currently Boğaziçi University), Istanbul, Turkey (1971)

Research Interests

The research area of my team is identification of novel human disease genes. We have studied several families afflicted with different diseases, ranging from neurological disorders and skeletal malformations to eye diseases and male infertility. A new gene function identified sheds light on the related cellular mechanism. The most certain route to the identification of the function of a gene is via clinically investigating affected individuals with defects in that particular gene. Because experiments on humans cannot be performed, molecular genetic studies are performed instead. In a large family in which the parents are related, genetic research aims to find the answer to the question “which gene is defective in the patients so that such a novel disease has developed?” In the search for the gene mutation that underlies a novel disease in a family, we first find the chromosomal localization of the disease gene, and then evaluate the results of the sequencing of the patient’s exome (protein coding regions of the genome) via bioinformatics tools and perform the necessary genetic analyses.
The first disease gene we identified was for pulmonary alveolar microlithiasis. Tiny stones form in the lungs and grow to finally lead to severe damage. It was known that the disease was frequent in our country, and the underlying cause was believed to be a yet unidentified environmental factor. We found that mutations in gene SLC34A2 underlie the disease and thus showed that the basis of the disease was completely genetic and due to parental consanguinity. In another family afflicted with split hand/foot malformation, we identified the gene responsible for the condition and showed that the inheritance of the trait was complex. Among the other genes we identified are some that are responsible for childhood Parkinson or brain development and function.