The main goal of developmental biology is to understand how different cell types arise, in an orderly spatial arrangement, during development, and in a consistent way each generation. Despite advances in molecular biology, we still understand very little about how the "spatial" aspect of development is controlled. In particular, our understanding of how the spatial and temporal expression of genes involved in morphology relates to growth and shape changes is extremely limited. What controls patterns and shape as an organism develops? How does the changing shape and size of an organism as it grows affect spatial and temporal patterns of gene expression? These fundamental questions are at the root of the research in our lab.
We are using a combination of experimental and computational approaches to quantify morphogenesis. We are currently more particularly interested in pattern formation and growth in plant leaves and fish fins (two relatively flat organs where branching networks are coordinated with growth of the tissue). We are studying:
- Spacing mechanisms leading to branching or network pattern formation during growth
- The relation between growth patterns and shape
- The control of growth and patterning during regeneration.