Background
The main focus of the work in our group is to understand the mechanistic basis of human genetic diseases by modelling them in other vertebrate organisms, specifically zebrafish and Xenopus tropicalis. The laboratory has strong roots in developmental biology and continues to work on the early stages of vertebrate development. Work in the group that addresses the mechanisms of human disease is focused on diseases of skeletal muscle; dystrophies and myopathies. This has led us to undertake a systematic cell biological and genetic study of sarcomere assembly.
Research
To facilitate our studies and to provide resources to the wider research community we have undertaken several systematic analysis projects. The Zebrafish genome project, which was begun a few years ago at the Sanger Institute, is working to deliver a high-quality finished genome, with the entire clonable genome represented by completely sequenced bacterial artificial chromosomes (BACs). The Zebrafish Mutation Project is a project which will deliver mutant lines and phenotype analysis for at least 1000 zebrafish genes over the next five years. Finally, the Xenopus Mutation Project is a National Institutes of Health funded project to identify and phenotypically characterise mutations in nearly 200 Xenopus tropicalis genes.
Resources
- Zebrafish Mutation Project - An open resource that seeks to identify, phenotype and distribute zebrafish mutants.
- Xenopus Mutation Project - An open resource that seeks to identify, phenotype and distribute Xenopus tropicalis mutants.
- Zebrafish Genome Project - Project home page.
Team
No team members listed
Dr Derek Stemple