{"id":4,"date":"2022-11-02T18:09:55","date_gmt":"2022-11-02T18:09:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/mcb\/?page_id=4"},"modified":"2026-02-26T15:22:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T23:22:11","slug":"home","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/mcb\/","title":{"rendered":"MCB Home"},"content":{"rendered":" \n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n \n \n
\n\n \n

\n Welcome to MCB!\n <\/h2>\n\n\n<\/div>\n \n \n
\n\n \n

The MCB mission is to teach and do research on the molecular and biochemical underpinnings of life itself. Our teaching and research combine experimental and computational approaches to understand how molecules interact to build cells, how cells interact to build organisms, and how evolutionary forces act upon molecules and organisms to produce the diversity of life that we enjoy on the earth today. We study a broad array of problems, including chromosome dynamics, genome architecture, aging, neuroscience, developmental and evolutionary biology, microbial science, RNA science, and how genotype translates to phenotype. To tackle these problems we employ a diverse set of approaches, including biochemistry, genetics, genomics, computation, single molecule biophysics, cutting edge microscopy, and x-ray crystallography. Our experimental systems are equally varied, ranging from bacteria and yeast, to Drosophila, C. elegans, zebrafish, Xenopus, mouse, human cell culture systems, and synthetic systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n \n\n <\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

\n\n \n
\n\n \n
\n\n \n


<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

\n \n
\n\n \n \n \n
\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n \n \n <\/a>\n \n\n<\/div>\n \n
\n \n
\n\n \n Apply!<\/span>\n\n\n<\/div>\n \n

\n \n \n MCB PhD Program\n\n <\/a>\n <\/h3>\n \n \n
\n\n \n

Click here for information on the MCB PhD program and how to apply!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n\n <\/div>\n \n

\n\n \n \n \n
\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n \n \n <\/a>\n \n\n<\/div>\n \n
\n \n
\n\n \n MCB at work<\/span>\n\n\n<\/div>\n \n

\n \n \n MCB Faculty Research\n\n <\/a>\n <\/h3>\n \n \n
\n\n \n

Learn about the diverse research activities of MCB faculty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n\n <\/div>\n \n

\n\n \n \n \n
\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n \n \n <\/a>\n \n\n<\/div>\n \n
\n \n
\n\n \n Big Success for Molecular Biology Graduate Students at the NIH!<\/span>\n\n\n<\/div>\n \n

\n \n \n MCB News\n\n <\/a>\n <\/h3>\n \n \n
\n\n \n

Click here to read the latest MCB news!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n\n <\/div>\n \n

\n\n \n
\n \n
\n\n \n Seminars on the University Park Campus<\/span>\n\n\n<\/div>\n \n

\n \n \n MCB Seminars and other Bioscience Seminars\n\n <\/a>\n <\/h3>\n \n \n
\n\n \n

Click here to see who’s coming and where they will be speaking!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n\n <\/div>\n \n

\n\n \n
\n \n
\n\n \n Let’s get organized!<\/span>\n\n\n<\/div>\n \n

\n \n \n MCB Graduate Student Organizations\n\n <\/a>\n <\/h3>\n \n \n
\n\n \n

MCB graduate students are an active bunch … click here to learn about student organizations and how to get involved!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n\n <\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n\n \n \n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

\n\n \n
\n \n
\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n \n \n \n\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n
\n\n \n
\n\n \n A founding father of MCB tells its origin story<\/span>\n\n\n<\/div>\n \n \n
\n\n \n

\n The History of MCB\n <\/h2>\n\n\n<\/div>\n \n \n
\n \n
\n\n \n \n \n\n The History of MCB \n <\/svg>\n<\/a>\n\n\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n\n <\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n\n \n \n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n \n
\n \n
\n\n \n

\n Featured Faculty\n <\/h2>\n\n\n<\/div>\n \n \n
\n\n \n

Each month MCB will highlight two of our faculty members with short articles about their life and their research. This month we feature two MCB faculty who use the same web-footed creature to study very different problems!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

\n \n
\n\n
\n\n \n
\n\n \n

\n Assistant Professor Xianrui Cheng<\/a>\n <\/h3>\n\n\n<\/div>\n \n \n
\n\n \n

Frog \u2018egg juice\u2019 may teach us ways to build a cell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n \n <\/div>\n\n\n \n \n \n

\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n \n \n <\/a>\n \n\n<\/div>\n\n \n <\/div>\n\n \n
\n\n
\n\n \n
\n\n \n

\n Professor Matthew Michael<\/a>\n <\/h3>\n\n\n<\/div>\n \n \n
\n\n \n

What can frog eggs tell us about human cancers?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n \n <\/div>\n\n\n \n \n \n

\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n \n \n <\/a>\n \n\n<\/div>\n\n \n <\/div>\n\n \n <\/div>\n \n\n <\/div><\/div>\n\n\n \n \n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n \n
\n\n
\n\n \n
\n\n \n

\n Contact Us\n <\/h2>\n\n\n<\/div>\n \n \n
\n\n \n \n \n\n Department Faculty & Staff \n <\/svg>\n<\/a>\n\n\n<\/div>\n \n <\/div>\n \n \n
\n\n \n
\n\n

Department Office<\/h3>\n \n \n
\n\n \n

Tina Robinson<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n \n

\n (213) 821-9526<\/a>\n <\/div>\n \n
\n tinajohn@usc.edu<\/a>\n <\/div>\n \n <\/div>\n \n
\n\n

Graduate Program Advisor<\/h3>\n \n \n
\n\n \n

Vivian K. Hsu-Tran, M.Ed.<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n \n

\n (213) 740-6163<\/a>\n <\/div>\n \n
\n vhsu@usc.edu<\/a>\n <\/div>\n \n <\/div>\n \n
\n\n

For inquiries about undergraduate courses taught by MCB faculty<\/h3>\n \n \n
\n\n \n

Christa Bancroft<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n \n

\n (213) 740-5553<\/a>\n <\/div>\n \n
\n cbancrof@usc.edu<\/a>\n <\/div>\n \n <\/div>\n \n <\/div>\n\n \n \n \n <\/div>\n\n\n <\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":170,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-4","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nMCB Home - Molecular and Cellular Biosciences<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/mcb\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"MCB Home - Molecular and Cellular Biosciences\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/mcb\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Molecular and Cellular Biosciences\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-02-26T23:22:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/mcb\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/118\/2023\/01\/1modcolor-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1869\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/mcb\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/mcb\/\",\"name\":\"MCB Home - Molecular and Cellular Biosciences\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/mcb\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/mcb\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/mcb\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/mcb\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/118\/2023\/01\/1modcolor-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-11-02T18:09:55+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-26T23:22:11+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/mcb\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/mcb\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/mcb\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/mcb\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/118\/2023\/01\/1modcolor-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/mcb\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/118\/2023\/01\/1modcolor-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1869},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/mcb\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/mcb\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"MCB Home\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/mcb\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/mcb\/\",\"name\":\"Molecular and Cellular Biosciences\",\"description\":\"USC Dornsife Molecular and Cellular Biosciences\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/mcb\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"MCB Home - Molecular and Cellular Biosciences","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/mcb\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"MCB Home - Molecular and Cellular Biosciences","og_url":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/mcb\/","og_site_name":"Molecular and Cellular Biosciences","article_modified_time":"2026-02-26T23:22:11+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":1869,"url":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/mcb\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/118\/2023\/01\/1modcolor-scaled.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/mcb\/","url":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/mcb\/","name":"MCB Home - Molecular and Cellular Biosciences","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/mcb\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/mcb\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/mcb\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/mcb\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/118\/2023\/01\/1modcolor-scaled.jpg","datePublished":"2022-11-02T18:09:55+00:00","dateModified":"2026-02-26T23:22:11+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/mcb\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/mcb\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/mcb\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/mcb\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/118\/2023\/01\/1modcolor-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/mcb\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/118\/2023\/01\/1modcolor-scaled.jpg","width":2560,"height":1869},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/mcb\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/mcb\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"MCB Home"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/mcb\/#website","url":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/mcb\/","name":"Molecular and Cellular Biosciences","description":"USC Dornsife Molecular and Cellular Biosciences","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/mcb\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/mcb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/mcb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/mcb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/mcb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/mcb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4"}],"version-history":[{"count":101,"href":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/mcb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2040,"href":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/mcb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4\/revisions\/2040"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/mcb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/170"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/mcb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}