Mark Robinson, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow
PhD, University of Hertfordshire, UK
Postdoctoral Fellow, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Mich.
Benaroya Research Institute at Virginia Mason
1201 9th Avenue
Seattle, WA 98101
Phone: (206) 287-1014 (Office) , (206) 287-1010 (Lab)
E-mail: mrobinson@benaroyaresearch.org
Research Interests
Developmental gene regulatory networks and their role in the evolution of morphological novelty. Genomics and bioinformatics
Ongoing Research
I am deeply fascinated by the complex developmental programs that guide the process of transforming a fertilized egg into the complexity of an adult organism. These developmental programs are coordinated by networks of regulatory genes; the interplay between these genes forms a kind of computational processing, determining which genes should be expressed in which cells and at which time; ultimately determining the fate of each cell in the body. The connectivity of such a developmental "Gene Regulatory Network," or GRN, is determined by the identity of key sequences encoded in the genome. The confluence of a number of high-throughput experimental techniques is allowing unprecedented growth in our understanding of these systems; all the way from the genome, through development, to the incredible diversity that life on this planet has produced, and is continuing to produce.
As we learn to read and understand the entirety of the information encoded in genomes another opportunity arises, namely the reconstruction of the evolutionary history of these organisms. By comparing the nucleotide sequences, gene content and identity, control sequences and other informative aspects of divergent genomes it is possible to infer much about their respective histories. In this way it is possible to reveal some of the deep evolutionary history of life on earth, including details that could never be observed from the fossil record. Pivotal evolutionary events can be illuminated by the application of comparative genomics to organisms placed at key points in the "tree of life."
My research lies at the intersection of genomics, developmental biology and evolutionary biology. By leveraging the vast amounts of relevant data from burgeoning next-generation sequencing technologies, powerful computational approaches and well-established developmental systems, I hope to probe the deep evolutionary history of life on earth. In particular, I aim to explore how morphology has been shaped by evolutionary tinkering of the GRNs that underlie and control developmental programs. Furthermore, by applying comparative genomic approaches to key organisms like the lamprey (a jawless vertebrate), the coelacanth and lungfish (closest living descendants of the last common ancestor of all tetrapods) and others, I hope to understand the key evolutionary events that have shaped the vertebrate and tetrapod lineages.