Abstract

Key scientific advances that have taken place over the last decade and a half – including the development of Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP) technologies to quantitatively and spatiotemporally dissect biological mechanisms, the genome sequencing of major model organisms including humans, and the development of tools to selectively silence gene expression in cells in a genome-wide fashion – have opened rich and unexpected research avenues of biological research.

In particular, the ensuing development of high-throughput microscopy-based functional genomics technologies promises to identify and clarify the function of macromolecules with unparalleled resolution in their native environment in cells, bringing us closer to understanding how genotype engenders phenotype.

In this talk, I will summarize recent advances in this field and use them to illustrate how those advances have led to progress in our understanding of cell biology – with an emphasis on cellular morphogenesis – and how they may inspire future therapeutic strategies to combat or diagnose disease.