Thèmes de recherche Pantalacci/Semon
Developing organs are far from being a mass of identical cells. The expression of thousands of genes is regulated, which modulates the behavior and fate of complex cell populations on top of distinguishing them.
We are interested in how development evolves in relation to morphology. Do levels of conservation (or divergence) in development follow levels of conservation (or divergence) in morphologies? Does convergent evolution imply convergent development?
Convergent evolution is widespread in the history of animals. In several case-studies, the same iconic gene was shown to be repeatedly recruited in two lineages. Yet we still lack a broader perspective on convergent evolution, encompassing the genome scale and many instances of convergence.
We are interested in the interplay between the nature of developmental systems and evolution. How did evolution shape them? How do they shape evolution in return?