Developmental Biology and Physiology

The specialization in Developmental Biology and Physiology investigates the formation and function of organisms. Development of a multicellular organism starts from a one cell zygote which undergoes a phase of rapid cell divisions. This is followed by cell migration, cell-cell communication, and reorganization to form an organism with different cell types and organs which perform various physiological processes essential to its life processes.

Developmental Biology and Physiology are at the centre of understanding the evolutionary relationships between organisms and their abilities to adapt to different environments and ecological communities. They are also important disciplines in understanding disease states, both inherited and environmental and in developing core strategies for therapies and/or preventative measures. It is an interdisciplinary research field that requires broad understanding of biology and knowledge in mathematics (bioinformatics), chemistry and molecular biology. Developmental Biology and Physiology is a research field where, in addition to descriptive analyzes, we also use functional experimental approaches to better understand biological processes. By manipulating genes and gene expression (genetic engineering), we can study the roles of specific genes, or sets of interacting genes, in these processes. It is a challenging and very interesting field requiring synthetic thinking and analysis on both temporal and spatial scales. Computational and systems skills are also increasingly used as powerful analytical and synthesis approaches.