Modelling Vision in a Dish

Research interests

Our research is primarily focused on human pluripotent stem cells. Pluripotent stem cells have the unique capability to differentiate into the three primary germ cell layers and therefore potentially to produce any cell or tissue of the body. Like all stem cells, pluripotent stem cells are able to self-renew, representing a theoretically unlimited source of cells. Our group uses induced pluripotent stem cells derived from skin fibroblasts cells. We use commercially available fibroblasts and reprogram them into pluripotent state.

What do we study:

• Molecular mechanisms underlying cell fate switch during reprogramming with special focus on non-coding microRNA molecules.
• Molecular mechanisms of differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells into retinal tissues.
• How light irradiation regulates development of human retina
• How light irradiation regulates circadian rhythms/molecular clock pathways