Craig Lowe

Associate Professor of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology

Craig Lowe is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology.  His research interests are in understanding how traits and characteristics of humans, and other vertebrates, are encoded in their genomes.  He is especially focused on adaptations and disease susceptibilities that are unique to humans.  To address these questions, Craig uses both computational and experimental approaches.  Craig's recent research has been on differences in how genes are regulated between species, or between different individuals within a species, and how this causes traits to differ.  All students in Craig's lab are exposed to an interdisciplinary environment; current lab members have backgrounds in mathematics, computer science, neuroscience, developmental biology, and genetics.  Each year Craig teaches one or two courses on rotating topics of: ancient DNA, ethical issues in genomics, and software development for genetic analyses.

Appointments and Affiliations

  • Associate Professor of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology
  • Assistant Professor of Cell Biology
  • Member of the Duke Cancer Institute

Contact Information

  • Email Address: craig.lowe@duke.edu
  • Websites:

Education

  • Ph.D. University of California, Santa Cruz, 2010

Courses Taught

  • UPGEN 778C: University Program in Genetics and Genomics Biological Solutions Module Ill
  • UPGEN 778A: University Program in Genetics and Genomics Biological Solutions Module I

In the News

Representative Publications

  • Yoxsimer, Alyssa M., Rhea R. Daugherty, Emily E. Hare, Yingguang Frank Chan, Felicity C. Jones, Garrett A. Roberts Kingman, Emma G. Offenberg, et al. “Rapid and repeated evolution of myosin copy number in threespine stickleback.” BioRxiv, December 25, 2025. https://doi.org/10.64898/2025.12.22.696110.
  • Abeykoon, Yashodara, Natalie Dzikowski, Yanting Luo, Enakshi Sinniah, Seth Weaver, Bryan J. Pavlovic, Jenelle L. Wallace, Riley J. Mangan, Craig B. Lowe, and Alex A. Pollen. “Interrogating the Regulatory Function of HAQERs during Human Cortical Development.” BioRxiv, December 1, 2025. https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.11.30.691411.
  • Luo, Yanting, Riley J. Mangan, Seth Weaver, Sarah A. Zhao, Federica Mosti, Michael C. Thomas, Ravi Karra, Debra L. Silver, Manolis Kellis, and Craig B. Lowe. “Intraspecific sequence variation and complete genomes refine the identification of rapidly evolved regions in humans.,” October 21, 2025. https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.10.20.683446.
  • Yu, Qianhui, Umut Kilik, Stefano Secchia, Lukas Adam, Yu-Hwai Tsai, Christiana Fauci, Jasper Janssens, et al. “Recent evolution of the developing human intestine affects metabolic and barrier functions.” Science 389, no. 6762 (August 21, 2025): eadr8628. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adr8628.
  • Au, Eric H., Seth Weaver, Anushka Katikaneni, Julia I. Wucherpfennig, Yanting Luo, Riley J. Mangan, Matthew A. Wund, Michael A. Bell, and Craig B. Lowe. “Genome sequence of a marine threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) from Rabbit Slough in the Cook Inlet.” G3 (Bethesda) 15, no. 7 (July 9, 2025). https://doi.org/10.1093/g3journal/jkaf114.