The Hannon Lab comprises a broad spectrum of programs in small RNA biology, mammalian genetics and genomics. The Hannon Lab studies RNAi and related pathways in a wide variety of organisms to extract common themes that define both the mechanisms by which small RNAs act and the biological processes which they impact. Current focus is on microRNAs, endogenous siRNAs and piRNAs and their roles in gene regulation, cancer biology, stem cell biology and in defense of the genome against transposons.