Hikmet GeckilHikmet Geckil is a Turkish academic who received PhD degree in Molecular Biology (with Benjamin C. Stark) at Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT.) A postdoctoral study (1999-2000) at Ben Gurion University and the Fulbright Fellowship (2009-2010) at the HST of Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) are among his science endeavors. His research is in the area of genetic engineering. His current affiliation is with the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics at Inonu University
Research in Geckil’s Genetic Engineering Laboratory is primarily based on the function of Vitreoscilla hemoglobin (VHb), the first prokaryotic hemoglobin. Using VHb, Geckil’s group engineered various bacteria for the purpose of producing industrially important products ranging from microbial fuels butanediol, acetoin to drugs used in Alzheimer’s and Parkinson disease (e.g., dopa, dopamine) and to asparaginase, an enzyme used in cancer chemotherapy. One of the recent endeavors of his laboratory is to dissect the anatomy of the SARS-CoV-2 Spike (S) protein and its physiological effects on cells. For this aim, his laboratory is studying the expression of S and its effect on cell physiology, using recombinant shuttle vectors created in his laboratory. Geckil has published in the areas of biochemistry, biomedicine, and biotechnology, and has over 30 peer-reviewed publications. He is the Editor of "Virolojinin Prensipleri (Cilt I): Moleküler Biyoloji" and Co-Editor of "Virolojinin Prensipleri (Cilt II): Patogenez ve Kontrol", the Turkish version of Principles of Virology (Volume I): Molecular Biology and Principles of Virology (Volume II): Patogenesis and Control, respectively. He is also the lead editor of the Moleküler Hücre Biyolojisi, the Turkish version of the highly acclaimed textbook "Molecular Cell Biology" by Harvey Lodish et al. He is also the editor of Biyokimya, the Turkish translated version of "Instant Notes in Biochemistry" by David Hames and Nigel Hooper. Dr. Geckil is also the author of two volume Biyokimya coursebook: Biyokimya I and Biyokimya II. He has serving on the editorial board of several international scientific journals, including the Biotechnology Journal (Wiley) and the Turkish Journal of Biology (TUBITAK). He is the founding director (2010-2012) of the Center for Gifted and Talented at Inonu University and the founding director of Inonu Children’s University (2010-2012), the founding member of European Children Universities. Dr. Geckil is also the founding chairman (2010-2013) of the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, the only department with fully English curricula at Inonu University. Nominated by TUBITAK (The Scientific and Technical Research Council of Turkey), in 2012 he represented Turkey in COMSTECH (OIC's Committee on Scientific and Technological Cooperation) as Chief Scientific Officer. |
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Grubumuz biyokimya, genetik ve moleküler biyoloji tekniklerini kullanarak içinde bulunduğumuz bir araştırmacı grubu tarafından keşfedilen ve ilk prokaryotik hemoglobin olan Vitreoscilla hemoglobin geninin klonlanması, ilgili proteinin işlevi ve metabolik mühendislikteki potansiyel kullanımını çalışmaktadır. Araştırmamızın amacı, oksijen taşıyan böyle bir proteinin doğal konakçısındaki işlevini aydınlatmak ve genleri oksijenle regüle olan endüstriyel öneme sahip birçok ürünün üretiminde bir metabolik modülatör olarak kullanılabilecek bu proteinin potansiyelini ortaya koymaktır. Kanser kemoterapisinde kullanılan bir enzim olan "asparaginaz", Alzheimer's ve Parkinson hastalıklarında kullanılan ilaçlar olan "dopa" and "dopamin" bu ürünlerin başlıcalarıdır. Laboratuarımızdaki son uğraşılardan bir 2020'nin başlarından beri dünya çapında bir salgına neden olan SARS-CoV-2 virüsünün Spike proteninin anatomisi ve fizyolojik etkilerini balamaya yöneliktir. Bunun Spike geni taşıyan laboratuarımızda oluşturulan rekombinant mekik vektörlerin bakteri (Escherichia coli), maya (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) ve çeşitli memeli hücre hatlarında bu proteinin ifadesini ve hücre fizyolojisi üzerine etkisini çalışmaktayız.