Abstract

The use of the insect eye as a model to understand the mechanisms of specification, growth and morphogenesis of sensory organs/placodes will be described, as well as the experimental and modeling approaches used.

Affiliation and short bio

Fernando Casares and his group investigate the mechanisms involved in the specification and growth of organs during development, evolution and regeneration, with a special focus on the gene regulation networks that describe these processes. One of the experimental systems that the group has used most frequently is the dipteran eye. Quantitative imaging and computational modeling techniques have been added to the group’s traditional approaches (developmental genetics and genomics). F. Casares is a research professor at the CSIC and principal investigator at the CABD (Andalusian Center for Developmental Biology), a María de Maeztu center of excellence, and currently coordinates the CSIC LifeHub-CSIC network of research groups(https://lifehub.csic.es/).