This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).
During normal animal development cells communicate with each other using signaling molecules. This ensures the correct body pattern is made and key features such as limbs are properly formed. In this project, the fruit fly will be used as a model system to study limb growth. The research will utilize important resources that have been developed in the nationally funded genome projects and will involve molecular biology and genetics. It is expected that a comprehensive view of how a limb is established from the earliest stages will emerge. The genes used in limb development in fruit flies are conserved with other animals, including humans, so that general principals will be learned. To increase public understanding of science, an exhibit showcasing the research project will be presented at a major science museum in Ohio (COSI).
