Professor Andrea Brand

Discovering how stem cells are maintained in a multipotent state and how their progeny differentiate into distinct cellular fates is a key step in the therapeutic use of stem cells to repair tissues after damage or disease. We are investigating the genetic networks that regulate stem cells in the Drosophila central nervous system. We use classical and reverse genetics, high resolution imaging and genome-wide transcriptional profiling to identify the molecular switches controlling the transition from symmetric to asymmetric division and from self-renewal to differentiation. We are characterising the genetic networks that control the transition from a neural stem cell to a specialised neuronal or glial cell type. By identifying neural stem cell-specific genes, and genes specific for differentiating daughters, we can begin to assess the potential for inducing neurons to divide in a regenerative manner, or for directing stem cells to differentiate into specific neuronal subtypes.