MPhil Developmental Biology

Programme description

Our MPhil Developmental Biology programme enables you to undertake a research project that will improve understanding of Developmental Biology.

Developmental Biology is the study of the processes by which complex organisms develop from fertilised eggs.

Research in Manchester investigates the fundamental events underlying normal development and how these are subverted in disease.

Specific interests include:

• pluripotency, cell fate specification and differentiation;
• patterning and organogenesis;
• cell signalling;
• epithelial development and morphogenesis;
• cell adhesion in development;
• the developmental role of genes involved in human diseases including epidermal, heart and craniofacial defects.

The Healing Foundation Centre investigates the cellular and molecular basis of tissue repair and regeneration.

Our research utilises a variety of model organisms including Caenorhabditis elegans, Dictyostelium, Drosophila, chick, mouse, Xenopus and zebrafish, and a diversity of state-of the-art techniques including various types of genetic analysis, transgenesis, gene targeting, expression profiling, functional genomics, proteomics, imaging, electron microscopy and X-ray crystallography.