Congratulations to this year’s Genetics and Genomics Outstanding Senior Award winners!

Go to 2023’s Outstanding Senior Awards

Welcome to the Laboratory of Genetics!

The Laboratory of Genetics at the University of Wisconsin – Madison comprises two departments: Genetics in the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, and Medical Genetics in the School of Medicine and Public Health. These two departments function as a single entity towards a unified research and academic mission.

The discipline of genetics centers on the study of the mechanisms of inheritance and the outward manifestation of the hereditary material. Reflecting the wide scope of the discipline of genetics in the biological sciences, research in the Laboratory of Genetics spans a broad range of topics, from the molecular and cellular to organismal and population levels. In our unit, you will find this wide breadth of work, from innovative technologies for genetic and genomic analysis of gene variants in humans, to studies that aim to determine basic mechanisms of development, disease, and evolutionary processes, and many other areas of discovery. Genetics pervasively reaches subjects applicable to our basic understanding of biology and the biomedical sciences, and their application to fields of agriculture, bioenergy, ecosystems and human health.

Founded as the Department of Experimental Breeding in 1910, the Laboratory of Genetics is one of the oldest and most influential academic research units in the field. As we look into our past for insight, we also look forward to our future to continue making innovative findings that shed light on fundamental biological principles, and to address current and future global challenges as leaders in the genetics research community.

We are also proud of a long-standing tradition of outstanding teaching and training. Laboratory of Genetics faculty and instructors are dedicated teachers, trainers, and mentors, both at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Indeed, we are home to a vibrant undergraduate major in Genetics and Genomics, as well as for a 45+ year training grant for PhD training from the National Institutes of Health. We are also the academic home for the J.F. Crow Institute for the Study of Evolution as well as the Cytotechnology Program.

In the Laboratory of Genetics, we strive to create a place where our students thrive and which they relish being part of, and that acts as a springboard towards successful, meaningful, and impactful careers. Within the Laboratory of Genetics, you will find individuals that truly care about both the beauty and excitement of science and the impact of our work in local and global communities.

If you are visiting temporarily, we hope you can visit our Laboratory and interact with its members. If you are staying with us during your academic career or professional training, we hope you enjoy being part of our community and look forward to many opportunities for valuable connections, learning experiences, and exciting new findings.

Francisco Pelegri
Chair, Laboratory of Genetics