Call is closed
Anne Grapin-Botton: “We try to understand how single cells act in a community to generate an organ. What is the contribution of individual cells? What biochemical and mechanical information do they exchange? To do so, we use mouse genetics, live imaging in 3D, transcriptomics, theoretical predictions and more synthetic organoid systems. Organoids enable us to test whether we understand enough to build organs and how they do so. They also open a window into human development, a process normally hidden in the womb. With this knowledge we attempt to gain insight into human syndromes impairing development sometimes causing disease later in life.”
Biology
“How do cells form tissues?” We want to understand in-depth the fundamental mechanisms underlying tissue morphogenesis: how this works at the molecular level and how shape, size, and function of both tissues and organisms are determined. We address these questions with a variety of interdisciplinary approaches and technologies. We use different model systems, namely hydra, C.elegans, Drosophila and other insects, zebrafish, and mouse—as well as more synthetic in vitro systems such as organoids, notably to study human tissue formation. We bridge scales, studying biological phenomena at different levels ranging from single-molecules, organelles, and cell types, to the broader level of tissues and organisms.
Our research is directed towards elucidating
- Molecular mechanisms at the sub-cellular level
- Cell shape, cell division, and collective behaviors
- Cell fate and pattern formation during development
- Organogenesis, morphogenesis, and their evolution
For understanding such complex biological phenomena we integrate rigorous quantitative measurements. We combine molecular biology and systematic genome-wide approaches with theory through input from physics, bioinformatics, computer science and mathematics.