R. Daniel Gietz

Biography

Dr. R. Daniel Gietz received his BSc in Genetics from the University of Guelph and his PhD in Genetics from the University of Alberta. Dr. Gietz began his postdoctoral training at the University of Alberta under the supervision of Dr. J.M. Tyler. His postdoctoral training was continued in the laboratory of Dr. Akio Sugio at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences in Research Triangle Park in North Carolina. During his tenure in Dr. Sugino’s laboratory he developed 9 new Yeast:E coli shuttle vectors that were based on the pUC19 plasmid and contained a completely unique multi-cloning site (Gietz and Sugino, 1988, Gene 74)[this paper has 2571 citations] These plasmids were requested and sent out to over 500 laboratories world wide. His training in yeast genetics continued in the laboratory of Dr. Satya Prakash at University of Rochester, Rochester NY. During his time in this laboratory he cloned and sequenced the yeast RAD4 gene. In addition, he discovered a method of DNA transformation of yeast that was 1000 time more efficient than previous published methods (Schiestl and Gietz, 1988 Gene 74) [This paper has 1768 citations]. Subsequently He joined the University of Manitoba as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Human Genetics and is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Medical Genetics. Dr. Gietz is also a member of the Manitoba Medical Services Foundation Board of Directors..

Research Interest

We have screened a yeast knock out library to identify deletion mutants that affect DNA transformation using the LiAC/ssDNA/PEG method (Schiestl and Gietz). These mutants are being analyzed in an attempt understand the mechanism of DNA uptake and establishment in yeast.