Eye Morphogenesis

The physics of light provides functional constraints on the structure of complex, image-forming eyes. We are interested in how these exacting shapes and structures are made during development. Using a comparative approach, we are also interested in whether morphogenetic mechanisms are shared across the animal kingdom and in other developmental contexts. We use eye vesicle closure in the squid Doryteuthis pealeii as a model to study these mechanisms and tissue movements in the Lophotrochozoa and compare this process to what is known about similar mechanisms found in other phyla.