Molecular Genetics of Axial Patterning, Growth and Disease in the Drosophila Eye

Undoubtedly, Drosophila melanogaster, fruit fly, has proved to be one of the most popular invertebrate model organisms, and the work horse for modern day biologists. Drosophila, a highly versatile model with a genetic legacy of more than a century, provides powerful genetic, cellular, biochemical and molecular biology tools to address many questions extending from basic biology to human diseases.  One of the most important questions in biology focuses on how does a multi-cellular organism d