Cancer, Stem Cells and Developmental Biology

Cancer, Stem Cells and Developmental Biology is aimed at research in the field of molecular developmental biology and genetic processes in plants, animals and humans. Fundamental developmental processes are frequently affected in human disease. Many of the important genes and mechanisms controlling development also regulate adult physiology, and deregulation may result in pathological conditions. Our understanding of the genome (all genes) and the proteome (all proteins) is increasing rapidly, but the regulatory processes that shape our bodies (and, when affected, cause diseases such as cancer) are still poorly understood and require fundamental research. New genomics technologies are now enabling us to monitor the expression of some 20,000 genes simultaneously and to determine which genes are active. These techniques not only help us to better understand physiological pathways, but also help to identify those genes involved in disease and trace their mutations more easily.

Our programme is directly linked to the PhD programmes Cancer, Stem Cells and Developmental Biology and Clinical and Translational Oncology of the Graduate School of Life Sciences.