Robustness in developmental systems: how early development buffers genetic and environmental variation

越来越明显的是，存在着丰富的遗传和环境变异，发育中的有机体必须缓冲这些变异才能产生健壮的表型。了解这种缓冲机制所涉及的分子遗传机制对于全面了解发育过程中形状、形状和比例是如何产生的是必要的。通过集成微流控技术、高通量成像和人工选择，我的研究计划使用一种创新的方法在体内研究基因表达变异和功能是如何调节的，以产生稳健的表型，尽管基因、环境或两者都有变化。这项研究将为生物体如何在活着的有机体的现实环境中茁壮发展提供洞察力，并将增进我们对影响生物体在其自然环境被扰动时适应的因素的理解。

It is becoming clear that there exists abundant genetic and environmental variation that the developing organism must buffer against to produce a robust phenotype. Understanding the molecular genetic mechanisms that are involved in this buffering mechanism are necessary for a complete understanding of how shape, form, and proportion are generated during development. By integrating microfluidics technology, high throughput imaging, and artificial selection, my research program uses an innovative approach to studying in vivo how gene expression variation and function is regulated to produce a robust phenotype in spite of variation in the genotype, the environment, or both. This research will provide insight into how organisms develop robustly in the realistic context of a viable organism, and will improve our understanding of the factors affecting adaptation of organisms when their natural environment is perturbed.