Developmental Biology

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Dr. Paula Murphy

Principal Investigator

Contact Details School of Natural Sciences, Zoology Building,Trinity College, Dublin 2, Ireland. Phone: +353 1 896-3780 Fax: +353 1 677-8094 Email*: paula.murphy * add @tcd.ie to the identifier above

Developmental Biology: Research overview

Developmental biology is concerned with the mechanisms and processes that sculpt a complex organism from a single fertilised egg cell.

The research group is primarily interested in morphogenesis, the gene-driven processes that help sculpt embryo shape and structure. The current focus is on a large set of genes (~50) involved in defining the shape of the limbs and facial region. This research is important in helping to increase our understanding of how genes operate in the formation of a new individual, which in turn adds to our understanding of birth defects, cancer and regenerative biology.

Many birth defects are caused by mutation of genes such as those under investigation in this work; genes that guide events in the developing embryo.  As for the relevance to cancer, it has frequently been found that the genes and gene products important during development are precisely those that are disturbed when cell control is lost during cancer. For example, a key communication pathway between cells being investigated in this work (Wnt signalling), is needed for correct differentiation of cells in the intestine and has been strongly implicated in colon cancer with more than 85% of cases showing mutations in one or more components of the pathway. In regenerative biology, a future long-term goal is the replacement of cell types or body parts that no longer function correctly. Collaborative work with the Trinity Centre for Bioengineering, aims to understand how genetic regulation is integrated with physical changes in the mechanical environment of cells and tissues to produce correct cell types and structures in the correct position.

The laboratory follows a number of lines of research, described under specific projects.

One of the most prominant aspects of the research teams current work is integrating the study of individual genes and molecules with the intricate and detailed shape changes that take place in the embryo. This is made possible by the use of 3dimensional imaging and analysis techniques developed by collaborators in Edinburgh (The Edinburgh Mouse Atlas Project), with whom the research team has close links.

3-D computer reconstruction of a TS 19 mouse embryo in situ hybridized with a Frizzled 8 probe

Research Profile

Dr Murphy began her scientific studies in genetics, graduating from the Genetics Department in Trinity College Dublin. The choice to specialise in Developmental Biology followed the opportunity to participate in a summer project in the Department of Genetics and Development at Cornell University, USA, and she undertook the research for her doctorate with the Medical Research Council Human Genetics Unit in Edinburgh, Scotland, examining a set of homeobox genes and their possible roles in the mammalian embryo. Two post-doctoral research fellowships brought experience in different aspects of embryology and development; the first in the area of muscle development in the University of Rome “La Sapienza” and the second, focusing mainly on the peripheral nervous system at the “Ecole Normale Superieur”, Paris. She then took a research position in the Biotechnology Centre of Oslo before returning, first to Edinburgh and then to Dublin to undertake the current research programme.