Pavel Tomancak

biologist

Dresden, DE

research biology morphogenesis
About

The overarching goal of the lab is to bridge two research fields - evolutionary developmental biology (evo-devo) and tissue morphogenesis. Currently, the research of how development evolves is focusing primarily on understanding how gene regulatory networks change between species. The morphogenesis field, on the other hand, puts emphasis on understanding the molecular and physical mechanisms by which cells change their behaviour and collectively sculpt the embryonic tissue. In our view, painting a complete picture of morphogenesis must involve understanding of the connections between evolution of patterning networks and the molecular mechanisms responsible for cell and tissue behaviours as well as the interplay of the two in the physical world of the forming organism. We believe that the future progress in understanding development relies on the combination of evo-devo and tissue morphogenesis viewpoints and on exploiting the power of the comparative approach.