Research at MDB
Development never ceases, rather it is a continuum of changes that include gametogenesis, fertilisation, formation of the embryonic axis and the vital organs, their differentiation and mass reorganisation during metamorphasis, sexual maturation, and even senescence.
Main content
The field of developmental biology studies these processes by integrating various disciplines like molecular biology, physiology, cell biology, neurobiology, histochemistry, and evolutionary biology.
Our current research activities are both experimental and field based and include the functional ontogeny of the digestive tract of fish; the influence of photoperiod and temperature on the neuroendocrine control of growth and energy homeostasis, osmotic homeostasis, the parr-smolt transformation in salmonids; the neuroendocrine control of seasonal reproductive cycles in fishes; the regulation of metamorphosis in flatfishes.
The research aims at elucidating basic physiological processes and mechanisms and as such strengthens the curiosity driven research within the field. The research is, however, also of importance in relation to fisheries and aquaculture, especially in the areas of reproduction and recruitment/fry production.
The group currently enjoys wide international collaboration, and is part of an extensive researcher network to elucidate the mechanisms involved in marine developmental biology.
