The paper “A multi-gene knockdown approach reveals a new role for Pax6 in controlling organ number in Drosophila” was selected for the cover of the journal Development.
Within this paper researchers in the Kumar lab describe how the simultaneous removal of multiple genes reveals developmental decisions that cannot be discerned from single gene mutants. This approach discovered new roles for the Pax6 transcription factor Eyeless, the nucleosome remodeling complex NURF, and the Ets-class transcription factor Pointed. It also identified a novel tissue fate decision within the eye-antennal disc.
Kumar lab members that authored the article are Alison J. Ordway (graduate student), Gary M. Teeters (graduate student), Bonnie M. Weasner (research associate), Brandon P. Weasner (research associate), and Justin P. Kumar (professor of biology). They were joined by Robert Policastro (graduate student) from the lab of Gabe Zentner (assistant professor of biology).
The College of Arts