Developmental Biology

Biorhythms underlie many aspects of our lives ensuring that all cellular processes occur in their optimal temporal niche. Molecular oscillators with circadian or ultradian (<24h) rhythms have been independently characterized in multiple organisms/cells and revealed to be crucial timekeeping mechanisms operating during DEVELOPMENT, AGEING AND DISEASE. Our group studies one such oscillator – the EMBRYO MOLECULAR CLOCK (EC) – which regulates the periodic formation of the vertebrate embryo axial skeleton precursors.

The Thyroid Hormones in Development and Ageing group, led by Marco António Campinho at the Algarve Biomedical Centre–Research Institute (ABC-Ri), Universidade do Algarve, investigates the molecular and cellular mechanisms by which thyroid hormones (TH) regulate vertebrate development, using zebrafish as its primary biomedical model.