Time control mechanisms that initiate different steps of the embryonic development, and license a zygotic metabolism:

Organismal development unfolds on tight temporal programs and in specific sequences that are unlikely to be reproduced by stochasticity or chaos-dependent decisions. As such, we are interested in the early pacemakers of development (from fertilization to zygotic activation), as well as potential metabolic switches that may license the early embryo for an irreversible commitment into further development. To dissect the former aspect, we have been involved in wonderful interactions with the group of Prof. Pat O'Farrell (supported by a generous PBBR NFR Award), where the results have dramatically informed our on-going research on cytoplasmic pacemaking (in contrast to century-long studies on nuclear pacemaking). For the latter, we recently started to collaborate with Prof. Bruce Alberts whose lab had seminal observations on the early metabolic processes. Together, we explore potential mechanisms that may incorporate mitochondria and their influence on early metabolism as a rate limiting (or licensing) step in development.