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.
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.