Stem cell competition
- Research Opportunity
- PhD students, Honours students, Master of Biomedical Science
- Number of Honour Places Available
- 1
- Number of Master Places Available
- 1
| Primary Supervisor | Number | Webpage | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prof Gary Hime | g.hime@unimelb.edu.au |
| Co-supervisor | Number | Webpage | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dr Nicole Siddall |
Summary The Hime groups studies regulation of organ development and regeneration in Drosophila and vertebrate tissues. Many differentiated but renewable cell types are derived from relatively small populations of dedicated precursors, or stem cells. The ability to replenish differentiated cells depends on the continued survival and proliferation of their respective stem cell populations. If we are to realise the goals of re-programming tissue differentiation, growing organs for transplantation in vitro, regeneration of damaged organs in vivo and targeted effective treatments for cancer it is essential that we understand the molecules and mechanisms that stem cells utilise for renewal and differentiation.
Project Details
If a mutation in a cell signaling pathway occurs in a stem cell can that cell outcompete other stem cells and result in the entire stem cell pool of an organ being derived from that single cell? What effects might this have on the ability of the stem cell to differentiate and produce functional cells? This project will use the genetic tools available in Drosophila to generate single mutant stem cells and follow their progeny. We will assay what proportion of the stem cell pool is generated from the mutant stem cell over time and if the mutant cells can produce functional differentiated progeny.Research Opportunities
PhD students, Honours students, Master of Biomedical Science
Students who are interested in joining this project will need to consider their elegibility as well as other requirements before contacting the supervisor of this research
Key Contact
For further information about this research, please contact a supervisor.
MDHS Research library
Explore by researcher, school, project or topic.