Assistant Professor

Office: Department of Biology

435 Bio-Life Building

Temple University

Phone: 215-204-1611

Lab: 215-204-3704

Email: darius@temple.edu

Research Interests

We are interested in understanding the development and function of the cardiovascular system. The model system we use- zebrafish Danio rerio- is particularly suitable for identifying new genes that play a role in these processes. We use insertional mutagenesis, transgenesis and pharmacological approaches combined with standard developmental biology techniques.

Relevant publications

Balciunas D, Wangensteen KJ, Wilber A, Bell J, Gurts A, Sivasubbu S, Wang X, Hackett PB, Largaespada DA, McIvor RS, Ekker SC. Harnessing a high cargo-capacity transposon for genetic applications in vertebrates. PLoS Genet. 2006 Nov 10;2(11):e169. Epub 2006 Aug 2.

Sivasubbu S, Balciunas D, Wolbrink D, Davidson AE, Wangensteen K, and Ekker SC. Gene-breaking transposon mutagenesis reveals an essential role for histone H2afza in zebrafish larval development. Mech Dev. 2006 Jul; 123(7):513-29.

Balciunas D and Ekker SC. Trapping fish genes with transposons. Review. Zebrafish. 2005 1(4):335-41.

Hermanson S, Davidson AE, Sivasubbu S, Balciunas D, Ekker SC. Sleeping beauty transposon for efficient gene delivery. Methods Cell Biol. 2004;77:349-62.

Balciunas D, Davidson AE, Sivasubbu S, Hermanson S, Ekker SC. Enhancer trapping in zebrafish using the Sleeping Beauty Transposon. BMC Genomics. 2004 Sep 03;5(1):62.

Davidson AE, Balciunas D, Mohn D, Shaffer J, Hermanson S, Sivasubbu S, Cliff MP, Hackett PB, Ekker SC. Efficient gene delivery and gene expression in zebrafish using the Sleeping Beauty transposon. Dev Biol. 2003 Nov 15;263(2):191-202