Muhammad Tariq received his PhD in Molecular Cell Biology from Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research in Switzerland. During his PhD, he worked in Jerzy Paszkowski's lab specializing in epigenetics of gene silencing in Arabidopsis. In 2003, he joined Renato Paro's lab as a postdoctoral fellow at Zentrum fur Molekulare Biologie Heidelberg (ZMBH). He was awarded prestigious EMBO long term fellowship for his postdoctoral studies elucidating a link between molecular chaperones, in particular Hsp90 (Heat shock protein 90), and epigenetics in Drosophila. He joined ETH Zurich as an Oberassistant (Senior Researcher) in 2006, where he continued his work on Hsp90 and Epigenetics in Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering (D-BSSE), Basel, Switzerland. He joined Syed Babar Ali School of Science and Engineering as an Associate Professor in 2009 and started developing Biology Program. He led the development of departmental vision and mission, curriculum and recruitment of one of the finest team of faculty in Pakistan who specializes in Cell and Molecular Biology, Bioinformatics, Microbiology and Biochemistry. In addition, he also led the development of biology research and teaching programs at undergraduate and graduate levels. 

His research interests include molecular link between epigenetic cell memory and cell signaling during development and the epigenetic basis of diseases. To pursue his research interests, Tariq lab primarily focuses on a paradigm based on Polycomb group (PcG) and Trithorax group (TrxG) proteins using the Drosophila and mammalian cultured cells. He has developed first epigenetic research lab in Pakistan which uses Drosophila to teach basic concepts of genetics, epigenetics and development. He has taught several courses at LUMS which include Genetics, Developmental Biology, Molecular Biology, Gene regulation and Epigenetics, Fundamentals of Molecular Techniques and Methods lab in Molecular Biology.  

URL: http://biolabs.lums.edu.pk/epi

Title Publication Author Year
Mask exhibits trxG-like behavior and associates with H3K27ac marked chromatin Developmental Biology Shaukat A., Bakhtiari M.H., Chaudhry D.S., Khan M.H.F., Akhtar J., Abro A.H., Haseeb M.A., Sarwar A., Mazhar K., Umer Z., Tariq M., 2024
CCT245718, a dual FLT3/Aurora A inhibitor overcomes D835Y-mediated resistance to FLT3 inhibitors in acute myeloid leukaemia cells British Journal of Cancer Tariq M.U., Furqan M., Parveen H., Ullah R., Muddassar M., Saleem R.S.Z., Bavetsias V., Linardopoulos S., Faisal A., 2021
Interplay Between BALL and CREB Binding Protein Maintains H3K27 Acetylation on Active Genes in Drosophila Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology Shaukat A., Khan M.H.F., Ahmad H., Umer Z., Tariq M., 2021
A Personalized Therapeutics Approach Using an In Silico Drosophila Patient Model Reveals Optimal Chemo- and Targeted Therapy Combinations for Colorectal Cancer Frontiers in Oncology Gondal M.N., Butt R.N., Shah O.S., Sultan M.U., Mustafa G., Nasir Z., Hussain R., Khawar H., Qazi R., Tariq M., Faisal A., Chaudhary S.U., 2021
Kinome-Wide RNAi Screen Uncovers Role of Ballchen in Maintenance of Gene Activation by Trithorax Group in Drosophila Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology Khan M.H.F., Akhtar J., Umer Z., Shaheen N., Shaukat A., Munir M.S., Mithani A., Anwar S., Tariq M., 2021
Genome-wide methylation profiling of HCV pathogenesis to develop diabetes and diabetic complications Journal of Viral Hepatitis Rafique S., Zahid S., Ali A., Tariq M., Saeed M., Iqbal Sahibzada K., Ali Shahid A., Idrees M., 2021
Transcriptomic analysis reveals differential gene expression, alternative splicing, and novel exons during mouse trophoblast stem cell differentiation Stem Cell Research and Therapy Ullah R., Naz A., Akram H.S., Ullah Z., Tariq M., Mithani A., Faisal A., 2020
Genome-wide RNAi screen in Drosophila reveals Enok as a novel trithorax group regulator Epigenetics and Chromatin Umer Z., Akhtar J., Khan M.H.F., Shaheen N., Haseeb M.A., Mazhar K., Mithani A., Anwar S., Tariq M., 2019
Bioresorbable antibacterial PCL-PLA-nHA composite membranes for oral and maxillofacial defects Polymer Composites Sharif F., Tabassum S., Mustafa W., Asif A., Zarif F., Tariq M., Siddiqui S.A., Gilani M.A., Ur Rehman I., MacNeil S., 2019
Evolutionary responses of Drosophila melanogaster under chronic malnutrition Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution Ahmad M., Keebaugh E.S., Tariq M., Ja W.W., 2018
Fabrication of biocompatible nano-carbonated hydroxyapatite/polymer spongy scaffolds Digest Journal of Nanomaterials and Biostructures Siddiqi S.A., Azhar U., Manzoor F., Jamal A., Tariq M., Saleem M., Chaudhry A.A., Rehman I.U., 2018
Expression of Cucumber mosaic virus suppressor 2b alters FWA methylation and its siRNA accumulation in Arabidopsis thaliana Biology Open Hamera S., Yan Y., Song X., Chaudhary S.U., Murtaza I., Su L., Tariq M., Chen X., Fang R., 2016
Mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) viability on PVA and PCL polymer coated hydroxyapatite scaffolds derived from cuttlefish RSC Advances Siddiqi S.A., Manzoor F., Jamal A., Tariq M., Ahmad R., Kamran M., Chaudhry A., Rehman I.U., 2016
Starvation-Induced Dietary Behaviour in Drosophila melanogaster Larvae and Adults Scientific Reports Ahmad M., Chaudhary S.U., Afzal A.J., Tariq M., 2015
Eradication of HIV-1 from the macrophage reservoir: An uncertain goal? Viruses Abbas W., Tariq M., Iqbal M., Kumar A., Herbein G., 2015
Drosophila GAGA factor polyglutamine domains exhibit prion-like behavior BMC Genomics Tariq M., Wegrzyn R., Anwar S., Bukau B., Paro R., 2013
Distinct roles of Hand2 in initiating polarity and posterior Shh expression during the onset of mouse limb bud development PLoS Genetics Galli A., Robay D., Osterwalder M., Bao X., Benazet J.-D., Tariq M., Paro R., Mackem S., Zeller R., 2010
Trithorax requires Hsp90 for maintenance of active chromatin at sites of gene expression Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America Tariq M., Nussbaumer U., Chen Y., Beisel C., Paro R., 2009
Epigenetic regulation of transcription in intermediate heterochromatin EMBO Reports Habu Y., Mathieu O., Tariq M., Probst A.V., Smathajitt C., Zhu T., Paszkowski J., 2006
Chromatin techniques for plant cells Plant Journal Bowler C., Benvenuto G., Laflamme P., Molino D., Probst A.V., Tariq M., Paszkowski J., 2004
DNA and histone methylation in plants Trends in Genetics Tariq M., Paszkowski J., 2004
Erasure of CpG methylation in Arabidopsis alters patterns of histone H3 methylation in heterochromatin Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America Tariq M., Saze H., Probst A.V., Lichota J., Habu Y., Paszkowski J., 2003
Depletion of MOM1 in non-dividing cells of Arabidopsis plants releases transcriptional gene silencing EMBO Reports Tariq M., Habu Y., Paszkowski J., 2002