Thomas Lecuit - Biochemical, Mechanical and Geometrical Information in Morphogenesis

Thomas Lecuit, group leader at the Developmental Biology Institute of Marseille (IBDM) in 2001 and Professor at the Collège de France will be the speaker of the next France – Singapore Science and Innovation Lectures series focusing on Biomechanical, Mechanical and Geometrical Information in Morphogenesis. How is biological shape encoded? The immense diversity of shapes at the cellular, tissue and organismal scales begs the question of whether general principles underlie the emergence of shapes. In other words, what is the nature of the information driving cell and tissue morphogenesis. This talk will address these questions in the context of Drosophila embryonic development. It is well appreciated that genes encode shape though how they do so remains largely not understood. Exploring the dynamical features and mechanisms of tissue extension and tissue invagination in Drosophila gastrulation we will develop the notion that information rests on three pillars: genetics/biochemical activity, mechanic