Development is a precise and reproducible process that is insensitive (or robust) to both individual differences and environmental variations. How such robustness is achieved remains an intriguing but fundamental problem in developmental biology. Dr. Ma proposes to use the fruit fly Drosophila as a model organism to study developmental robustness. Since the fundamental principles that guide developmental processes are conserved in all animals, the findings of this study will be directly relevant to the understanding of ourselves. This study will focus on a gradient protein called Bicoid that instructs the embryo to develop the anterior structures including the head and thorax. Dr. Ma will investigate the processes of both Bicoid gradient formation and gradient action in embryos, with a focus on the robustness of the system. He has assembled an interdisciplinary team to tackle this problem and will take advantage of tools in genetics, molecular biology, mathematics, computer science and physics. Dr. Ma aims to obtain experimental data to build a mathematical model that describes developmental robustness. The information revealed in this study will be useful not only to developmental and systems biologists but also to physicists and mathematicians working on living systems. The interdisciplinary nature of the proposed work will help train a new generation of scientists that can traverse between distinct scientific fields.
