Prof. Nipam Patel will present two studies in which new research organisms have been used to gain insight into the mechanisms of development, and how development evolves to create novel body plans and coloration. 

In the first example, Prof. Patel will describe our comprehensive analysis of Hox gene expression in the amphipod crustacean, Parhyale hawaiensis, and more importantly, their result from using CRISPR/​Cas9 gene editing to functionally address the role of Hox genes in crustacean development. Prof. Patel will then describe how this experimental data leads to some new views on the evolution of the arthropod body plan. In the second part he will discuss their work on the developmental basis for structural coloration and transparency in butterflies. While both structural color and transparency have been analyzed in great detail by optical physicists, they are now making headway in uncovering the genetic and cell biological basis for these phenomena.