Kronforst Lab
Principal Investigator: Marcus Kronforst
Institution: University of Chicago (Chicago, IL)
Primary Subfield: Molecular & Cell Bio
Recruitment Status: Inquire for rotation/fellowship opportunities
Research Focus
Characterizing the Molecular Basis of Supergene Mimicry in Butterflies Project Summary Why is life on Earth so diverse? How do these diverse forms arise, both over evolutionary time and during development? What are the functional molecular and genetic changes that underlie the fantastic organismal diversity we see in the natural world? My research focuses on these big questions related to the origin of biodiversity, but I do so through the lens of mechanism. Butterflies, and butterfly wing patterns in particular, offer an excellent system to unlock the functional molecular and genetic mechanisms responsible for organismal evolution because of their natural diversity, a long history of research that puts this diversity in a much-needed ecological context, and our success at establishing genomic and genome editing tools for butterflies. My research team and I study diversity using multiple approaches, including molecular and population genetics, genomics, developmental biology techniques, functional genomics, genome editing, neurobiology, behavioral experiments, and computation. The ultimate goal of this work is very fundamental: I strive to characterize the functional mechanisms res…
Active NIH Awards
- 5R35GM131828-08: Characterizing the Molecular Basis of Supergene Mimicry in Butterflies (2026)
- 5R35GM131828-07: Characterizing the Molecular Basis of Supergene Mimicry in Butterflies (2025)
- 2R35GM131828-06: Characterizing the Molecular Basis of Supergene Mimicry in Butterflies (2024)
Explore 700+ US Biology Labs on FindBioLabs.com