Research Interests

Vertebrate development and genetics

Research Area

The Vertebrate development group works on a range of projects related to growth and development and human disease, using the model organisms Xenopus tropicalis and the zebrafish. The team is led by Derek Stemple, Head of Mouse and Zebrafish Genetics The organisms allow the combination of sophisticated embryological methods and functional genetics in diploid vertebrate systems for studying the genetic control of very early development in the embryo, to understand how genes regulate body axis and tissue growth. The team also studies the muscular dystrophies, to understand how the different mutations identified as causing these inherited diseases affect the complex interactions of proteins within and around muscle cells. The team, headed by Derek Stemple, also manages the zebrafish and xenopus mutation projects, which are dedicated to producing lines of zebrafish and Xenopus that are carriers of inactivated genes for further functional analysis, and the Zebrafish genome project that seeks to significantly improve the quality of the zebrafish genome sequence. All of these resources are invaluable to the scientific community and to functional genetics research.

Current Members

Stemple, Derek L. (Principal Investigator/Director)
Carruthers, Samantha (Post-doc)

Contact

Institution: Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute

Address:
Cambridge
United Kingdom

Web Page: http://www.sanger.ac.uk/Teams/Team31/