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Lecture Abstract:
The incredible variety of life on Earth has been a constant source of fascination, and recent scientific advances have given us new glimpses into how this diversity was generated. Two particularly stunning examples come from the investigation of wing patterning in butterflies and shell shape in snails. We can appreciate the beauty of these structures that nature has created, but how did they come to be, and how is it that they come in such wonderful assortments? I will explore how the intersection between developmental biology (embryology) and evolutionary biology is bringing us to a deeper understanding of the processes that generate this kind of diversity, and how these answers lead us to a greater appreciation of the close kinship of all life on earth.

Nipam H. Patel is professor of Molecular Cell Biology and Integrative Biology at the University of California, Berkeley, adjunct professor of the National Institute of Genetics in Shizuoka, Japan, an investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical, as well as co-director of the MBL Embryology course.  He studies the evolutionary changes responsible for generating the diversity of life we see on Earth today, with a specific focus on the evolution of body patterning and segmentation at the molecular and genetic level. Dr. Patel grew up in the West Texas town of El Paso, received an A.B. in Biology from Princeton University and a Ph.D. in Biology from Stanford University. Before moving to Berkeley, he was a Staff Associate in the Department of Embryology at the Carnegie Institution, Visiting Fellow at the Australian National University, and a Professor at the University of Chicago. Dr. Patel recently co-authored an evolution textbook intended for advanced undergraduates and actively promotes the teaching of modern evolutionary biology at all educational levels.  He was a member of the National Human Genome Research Institute’s Comparative Genome Evolution Working Group between 2004 and 2007 and the NIH Developmental Biology Expert Panel in 2006.  He is also a member of the scientific advisory board of the Regeneration Project of the University of Florida. Dr. Patel has been awarded numerous honors including an NSF Predoctoral Fellowship, McKnight Scholars Neuroscience Fellowship Award, and the Butler Chair at the UC Berkeley. He currently holds editorial positions with the journals PloS Biology, Evolution and Development, Development Genes and Evolution, Developmental Biology and American Naturalist.


Lee Niswander will introduce Dr. Patel. Dr. Niswander is a Professor of Pediatrics and Section Head of Developmental Biology at the University of Colorado Heath Sciences Center. She is also an Investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and co-director of the MBL’s Embryology course. Dr. Niswander’s research is focused on the genetic and cellular mechanisms that control embryonic development, particularly the processes required for closure of the neural tube and for development of the vertebrate limb and lung. Dr. Niswander received her Ph.D. in Genetics from Case Western Reserve University in 1990 and was a postdoctoral fellow with G.R. Martin at the University of California, San Francisco where she studied limb development. Dr. Niswander’s honors include a Pew Scholars Award, a Presidential Early Career Award for scientists and engineers, and the Harland Winfield Mossman Developmental Biologist Award.