Biophysics & Development Seminar: From Patterning to Morphogenesis (Enrico Cohen, John Innes Centre)

Presenter:
Enrico Coen, Ph.D.,
Group Leader / Fellow of the Royal Society
Genes in the Environment
John Innes Centre


Talk Title: 
From Patterning to Morphogenesis

Although much progress has been made in understanding the cellular basis of pattern formation, the mechanisms that link patterning to the generation of multicellular form are much less clear. Using leaf development as an example, I will present our latest findings in understanding how patterning can lead to modified properties of the cell-matrix and how these in turn lead to tissue morphogenesis.


Short Bio:
Enrico Coen was born in Liverpool in 1957 and obtained a Ph.D. in molecular genetics at Cambridge University in 1982. After a postdoc at Cambridge, he moved to the John Innes Centre, Norwich in 1984 where he began using Antirrhinum as a model system to study plant development and evolution. Based on the results of an extensive mutational screen, he proposed that the ground plan of a flower depends on the combinatorial action of homeotic genes acting along the radial and dorsoventral axes of the flower. More recently, he has started to explore ways of bridging the gap between gene action and the development and evolution. This has involved collaborations with computer scientists and population geneticists to develop methods for quantitative modelling of plant growth, form, and diversity. In addition to publishing in scientific journals, Enrico Coen has also tried to communicate some key principles in his area to a broad audience through articles in popular journals and in his books The Art of Genes and Cells to Civilizations, where he explores connections between science and art. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society and a foreign member of the US National Academy of Sciences.