Understanding the regulatory grammar in embryogenesis and cancer development
1. We are using Ciona intestinalis – the closest living relatives of vertebrates, as a simple model system to decipher cell-cell interactions and communications throughout development and evolution. This includes developing computational, imaging and genetic tools to explore gene expression to cis-regulatory elements.
We are currently interested in the following questions:
- How are single cells organized into tissues in space and time during development?
- What is the role of parental contribution in embryogenesis?
- How are novel cell types evolved?
2. We aim to use engineering principles to reconstruct cancer development processes from the bottom up.
![](https://labs.utdallas.edu/caolab/files/2024/01/cancer_theme-01-c853f1c894dcfedb.jpg)
We are interested in developing platforms to better understand:
- The dynamic features of the tumor microenvironment.
- The key transition and regulatory elements related to tumor cell carcinogenic evolution type.