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Welcome to The Musculoskeletal Genetics Lab

Karasik Lab

The primary objective of our research is to understand the biology reflected in the complex pathology of musculoskeletal aging and disease. Our research focuses on identifying genes underlying the heritable variation of human complex traits, such as susceptibility to osteoporotic fractures, muscle wasting, and metabolic syndrome.  Zebrafish (Danio rerio) serves as a valuable model for the cross-talk between these organs and tissues.

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Fields of Interest

About our research

Human Musculoskeleton

Multi-ancestry whole genome sequencing analysis of lean body masshole genome sequencing analysis of lean body mass

Recent Publications

Donaka, Rajashekar ; Zheng, Houfeng ; Ackert-Bicknell, Cheryl L. et al. / Early life lipid overload in Native American Myopathy is phenocopied by stac3 knockout in zebrafish. In: Gene. 2025 ; Vol. 936.
Mesika, Aviv ; Nadav, Golan ; Ben-David, Sapir et al. / Impaired Proteostasis is Linked to Neurological Pathology in a Zebrafish NGLY1 Deficiency Model. In: Journal of Inherited Metabolic Disease. 2025 ; Vol. 48, No. 4.
Malavašič, Petra ; Lojk, Jasna ; Lovšin, Marija Nika et al. / Membrane Palmitoylated Protein 7 is Required for Osteogenesis and is Linked with Bone Mineralization and Osteoporosis : The Functional Evaluation of GEFOS GWAS Hit. In: Calcified Tissue International. 2025 ; Vol. 116, No. 1.
Alvarado, Kurtis ; Tang, W. Joyce ; Watson, Claire J. et al. / Loss of cped1 does not affect bone and lean tissue in zebrafish. In: JBMR Plus. 2025 ; Vol. 9, No. 2.

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