Genetics & Developmental Biology Stories
Genetics & Developmental Biology
Steroid links fat accumulation with egg development
Nutrition and metabolism are closely linked with reproductive health. Several reproductive disorders have been linked to malnutrition, diabetes, and obesity. Furthermore, fasting in numerous species...
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Genetics & Developmental Biology
Steroid links fat accumulation with egg development
Baltimore, MD— Nutrition and metabolism are closely linked with reproductive health. Several reproductive disorders including polycystic ovary syndrome, amenorrhea, and ovarian cancer have been...
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Genetics & Developmental Biology
Carnegie’s Zhao Zhang Receives 2015 Larry Sandler Memorial Award
Baltimore, MD—The newest member of the staff at the Carnegie Department of Embryology, Junior Investigator Zhao Zhang, received the prestigious Larry Sandler Memorial Award at the 56th Annual...
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Genetics & Developmental Biology
Biology at the Extremes: How Studies of the Extraordinary Lead to Discoveries About the Ordinary
February 11, 2015 Dr. Douglas Koshland, University of California Berkeley, Department of Molecular & Cell Biology Remarkable organisms exemplify extremes in the spectrum of life, like transparent...
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Genetics & Developmental Biology
Baby cells learn to communicate using the lsd1 gene
We would not expect a baby to join a team or participate in social situations that require sophisticated communication. Yet, most developmental biologists have assumed that young cells, only recently...
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Genetics & Developmental Biology
Baby cells learn to communicate using the lsd1 gene
Baltimore MD— We would not expect a baby to join a team or participate in social situations that require sophisticated communication. Yet, most developmental biologists have assumed that young cells...
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Genetics & Developmental Biology
Carnegie’s Marnie Halpern Named AAAS Fellow
Tuesday, November 25, 2014, Baltimore, MD—Biologist Marnie Halpern of Carnegie’s Department of Embryology has been named a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) for...
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Genetics & Developmental Biology
Does dietary fat cause cholesterol absorption?
In mammals, most lipids, such as fatty acids and cholesterol, are absorbed into the body via the small intestine. The complexity of the cells and fluids that inhabit this organ make it very...
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Genetics & Developmental Biology
Left and right side differences of the developing brain
The Marnie Halpern laboratory studies how left-right differences arise in the developing brain and discovers the genes that control this asymmetry. Using the tiny zebrafish, Danio rerio, they explores how regional specializations occur within the neural tube, the embryonic tissue that develops into...
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Genetics & Developmental Biology
Visualizing Lipid Metabolism and Signaling
In mammals, most lipids, such as fatty acids and cholesterol, are absorbed into the body via the small intestine. The complexity of the cells and fluids that inhabit this organ make it very difficult to study in a laboratory setting. The goal of the Farber lab is to better understand the cell and...
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Genetics & Developmental Biology
The mechanics of stem cell development
Stem cells make headline news as potential treatments for a variety of diseases. But undertstanding the nuts and bolts of how they develop from an undifferentiated cell  that gives rise to cells that are specialized such as organs, or bones, and the nervous system, is not well understood.  The...
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Meet Carnegie Scientists
Genetics & Developmental Biology
Yixian Zheng, Director
Yixian Zheng is Director of the Department of Embryology. Her lab has a long-standing interest in cell division. In recent years, their findings have broadened their research using animal models, to include the study of stem cells, genome organization, and lineage specification—how stem cells...
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Genetics & Developmental Biology
Marnie Halpern
There is a lot of folklore about left-brain, right-brain differences—the right side of the brain is supposed to be the creative side, while the left is the logical half. But it’s much more complicated than that. Marnie Halpern studies how left-right differences arise in the developing brain and...
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Genetics & Developmental Biology
Donald Brown
The Donald Brown laboratory uses  amphibian metamorphosis to study complex developmental programs such as the development of vertebrate organs. The thyroid gland secretes thyroxine (TH), a hormone essential for the growth and development of all vertebrates including humans. To understand TH,...
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Genetics & Developmental Biology
Why are some cells more cancer prone?
Baltimore, MD--Cells in the body wear down over time and die. In many organs, like the small intestine, adult stem cells play a vital role in maintaining function by replacing old cells with new ones...
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Why do aged muscles heal slowly?
Baltimore, MD— As we age, the function and regenerative abilities of skeletal muscles deteriorate, which means it is difficult for the elderly to recover from injury or surgery. New work from...
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Genetics & Developmental Biology
Carnegie’s Marnie Halpern Named AAAS Fellow
Tuesday, November 25, 2014, Baltimore, MD—Biologist Marnie Halpern of Carnegie’s Department of Embryology has been named a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) for...
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Ethan Greenblatt Receives Eleventh Postdoctoral Innovation and Excellence Award
September 18, 2018

Ethan Greenblatt, a senior postdoctoral associate in Allan Spradling’s lab at the Department of Embryology, has been awarded the eleventh Postdoctoral Innovation and Excellence Award. Greenblatt has made a major impact on biological science, particularly with his research identifying genetic factors underlying fragile X syndrome, the most common cause of autism.

Recipients of these postdoctoral awards are given a cash prize for their exceptionally creative approaches to science, strong mentoring, and contributing to the sense of campus community. A celebration is also held in their honor. These awards are made through nominations from the departments and are chosen by the Office

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Farber Awarded Pew grant to study nutrient and microbe influence on glucose sensitivity
September 14, 2018

Baltimore, MD—The Pew Charitable Trust has awarded Carnegie’s Steve Farber and colleague John F. Rawls of Duke University a $200,000 grant to investigate how dietary nutrients, such as fats, alter the ability to sense glucose in the gut—a process that involves the microbial ecosystem in the gut. Results from this research could reveal how microbes and nutrients in the gut environment interact and could provide new strategies to combat disorders such as diabetes and obesity.

Rawls has investigated host-microbe interactions, and Farber studies lipid­ metabolism. Together they will use the zebrafish for this work. Zebrafish are entirely clear while embryos and are ideal for observing

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This image shows an example of defects in the development of the embryonic central nervous system in stored eggs that lacked the Fmr1 gene.
Autism linked to egg cells’ difficulty creating large proteins
August 15, 2018

Baltimore, MD—New work from Carnegie’s Ethan Greenblatt and Allan Spradling reveals that the genetic factors underlying fragile X syndrome, and potentially other autism-related disorders, stem from defects in the cell’s ability to create unusually large protein structures. Their findings are published in Science.

Their research focuses on a gene called Fmr1. Mutations in this gene create problems in the brain as well as the reproductive system. They can lead to the most-common form of inherited autism, fragile X syndrome, as well as to premature ovarian failure.

It was already thought that Fmr1 plays a pivotal part in the last stages of the process by which the recipe

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How do jumping genes cause disease, drive evolution?
July 26, 2018

Baltimore MD—Almost half of our DNA sequences are made up of jumping genes—also known as transposons. They jump around the genome in developing sperm and egg cells and are important to evolution. But their mobilization can also cause new mutations that lead to diseases, such as hemophilia and cancer. Remarkably little is known about when and where their movements occur in developing reproductive cells, the key process that ensures their propagation in future generations, but can lead to genetic disorders for the hosts.

To address this problem, a team* of Carnegie researchers developed new techniques to track the mobilization of jumping genes. They found that during a particular

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Left and right side differences of the developing brain

The Marnie Halpern laboratory studies how left-right differences arise in the developing brain and discovers the genes that control this asymmetry. Using the tiny zebrafish, Danio rerio, they explores how regional specializations occur within the neural tube, the embryonic tissue that develops into the brain and spinal cord.

The zebrafish is ideal for these studies because its basic body plan is set within 24 hours of fertilization. By day five, young larvae are able to feed and swim, and within three months they are ready to reproduce. They are also prolific breeders. Most importantly the embryos are transparent, allowing scientists to watch the nervous system develop and to

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Visualizing Lipid Metabolism and Signaling

In mammals, most lipids, such as fatty acids and cholesterol, are absorbed into the body via the small intestine. The complexity of the cells and fluids that inhabit this organ make it very difficult to study in a laboratory setting. The goal of the Farber lab is to better understand the cell and molecular biology of lipids within digestive organs by exploiting the many unique attributes of the clear zebrafish larva  to visualize lipid uptake and processing in real time.  Given their utmost necessity for proper cellular function, it is not surprising that defects in lipid metabolism underlie a number of human diseases, including obesity, diabetes, and atherosclerosis.

The Farber

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The biology of reproduction studying ovarian stem cells of the fruitfly

The Spradling laboratory studies the biology of reproduction. By unknown means eggs reset the normally irreversible processes of differentiation and aging. The fruit fly Drosophila provides a favorable multicellular system for molecular genetic studies. The lab focuses on several aspects of egg development, called oogenesis, which promises to provide insight into the rejuvenation of the nucleus and surrounding cytoplasm. By studying ovarian stem cells, they are learning how cells maintain an undifferentiated state and how cell production is regulated by microenvironments known as niches. They are  also re-investigating the role of steroid and prostaglandin hormones in controlling the

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The mechanics of stem cell development

Stem cells make headline news as potential treatments for a variety of diseases. But undertstanding the nuts and bolts of how they develop from an undifferentiated cell  that gives rise to cells that are specialized such as organs, or bones, and the nervous system, is not well understood. 

The Lepper lab studies the mechanics of these processes. overturned previous research that identified critical genes for making muscle stem cells. It turns out that the genes that make muscle stem cells in the embryo are surprisingly not needed in adult muscle stem cells to regenerate muscles after injury. The finding challenges the current course of research into muscular dystrophy, muscle

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Zhao Zhang

Junior investigator Zhao Zhang joined Carnegie in November 2014. He studies how elements with the ability to “jump” around the genome, called transposons, are controlled in egg, sperm, and other somatic tissues in order to understand how transposons contribute to genomic instability and to mutations that lead to inherited disease and cancer. He particularly focuses on transposon control and its consequences in gonads compared to other tissues and has discovered novel connections to how gene transcripts are processed in the nucleus.To accomplish this work, Zhang frequently develops new tools and techniques, a characteristic of many outstanding Carnegie researchers. He recently received

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William Ludington

The Ludington lab investigates complex ecological dynamics from microbial community interactions using the fruit fly  Drosophila melanogaster. The fruit fly gut carries numerous microbial species, which can be cultured in the lab. The goal is to understand the gut ecology and how it relates to host health, among other questions, by taking advantage of the fast time-scale and ease of studying the fruit fly in controlled experiments. 
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Frederick Tan

Frederick Tan holds a unique position at Embryology in this era of high-throughput sequencing where determining DNA and RNA sequences has become one of the most powerful technologies in biology. DNA provides the basic code shared by all our cells to program our development. While there are about 30,000 human genes, 98% of DNA sequences are comprised of repetitive and regulatory sequences within and between genes. Measuring the specific set of DNA sequences that are transcribed into RNA helps reveal what and how our tissues are doing by showing which genes are active.

Modern sequencing platforms, such as the Illumina HiSeq 2000, generate only short, ordered sequences, usually 100

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Donald Brown

The Donald Brown laboratory uses  amphibian metamorphosis to study complex developmental programs such as the development of vertebrate organs. The thyroid gland secretes thyroxine (TH), a hormone essential for the growth and development of all vertebrates including humans. To understand TH, director emeritus Donald Brown studies one of the most dramatic roles of the hormone, the control of amphibian metamorphosis—the process by which a tadpole turns into a frog. He studies the frog Xenopus laevis from South Africa.

 Events as different as the formation of limbs, the remodeling of organs, and the resorption of tadpole tissues such as the tail are all directed by TH. The hormone

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