Our research focuses on unravelling cellular mechanisms that govern biological timing. In the broad sense, precise temporal control of development, metabolism and aging is critical for maintaining healthy physiology and preventing disease. In particular, we are interested in biological time control during embryogenesis. Because most biological processes occur rapidly in embryos, early developmental phenomena (from zygotic activation to fate decisions) appear to be under an evolutionary pressure that selects for mechanisms enabling their timely execution. As such, the embryos not only provide an advantageous platform to perform our science more efficiently, but also gives us an important opportunity to discover fundamental mechanisms of time control, related to both organismal fitness and associated developmental defects thereof.