Interests and research:
I am a developmental geneticist with particular interests in the control of morphology
and the evolution of developmental mechanisms. For much of the last twenty years
I have worked on the Drosophila Hox genes, trying to understand how a single gene can
control the myriad of changes that distinguish one segment from another.
In recent years we have increasingly used our knowledge of Drosophila development to
study the genetic basis for diversity among arthropods. My particular interests are the
diversity of embryonic patterning mechanisms in insects, and the control of segment form
and number. To underpin these studies, I have also become interested in unsolved questions
of arthropod relationships - especially the origin of the insects.
