Molecular genetic analysis of embryonic patterning and morphogenesis in zebrafish

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During embryonic development, an unassuming ball of cells becomes patterned and shaped into a recognizable human form. My lab is interested in understanding the molecular and genetic events that control this incredible transformation, and use zebrafish as a genetic organism for study. In the last decade, intense scientific research has developed the aquarium fish Danio rerio (zebrafish) into a valuable experimental organism for modeling and studying human embryonic development and disease - although you can't watch a child growing inside its mother, you can study a fish as it proceeds through embryogenesis. Zebrafish embryos are abundant, transparent and easily grown under a microscope - this allows us to actually watch embryonic development occur at a cellular, and even a sub-cellular level. Moreover, the patterning events, cell movements, and tissue remodeling that structure the developing embryo are remarkably conserved between zebrafish and humans. Finally, zebrafish are well suited for genetic screens, and we have isolated mutations in genes that disrupt normal embryogenesis. Here, we employ cell biology, embryological manipulation, and classic genetic approaches in zebrafish to determine what genes are required for embryogenesis, and how these genes control fundamental processes that drive embryonic development.