A quantitative study of gap gene mutants in Drosophila melanogaster

A quantitative study of gap gene mutants in Drosophila melanogasterA quantitative study of gap gene mutants in Drosophila melanogaster

Hilde Janssens
If we are to study evolutionary transitions using mathematical models of gene networks, we need a modeling formalism that captures the variational properties of the network. However, it remains unclear whether our current gene circuit models are able to correctly reproduce expression in mutant embryos. We will investigate these issues systematically by generating quantitative gene expression data for Drosophila gap gene mutants (with J. Reinitz, Stony Brook, USA), and by testing various modeling formalisms with regard to their ability to reproduce wild-type/mutant patterns correctly.