The past quarter century has seen a revolution in the understanding of the genetic machinery that controls the growth of a human from a fertilized egg. Magnificent control systems guide the formation of cells, tissues, and organs and adjust to damage and infection. Join us to learn about the most exciting aspect of all this work: the discovery that the genetic “hardware”—the genes and proteins that do the work—are for the most part dramatically similar among seemingly different animals. Most discoveries in one organism can be used to guide research in another even across a half billion year evolutionary distance.

Matthew Scott is a Professor of Developmental Biology, Genetics and Biogengineering and the Chair of Bio-X. His research interest include the fundamental molecualr mechanisms of biological development.