Stem cell biology, germ cells, gene targeting, meiosis, spermatogenesis, transgenic fish We focus on four issues of stem cells and their potentials in basic and applied biomedical research. The first aims at the development of pluripotent embryonic stem (ES) cell lines and gene targeting technology in fish as a biomedical model system complimentary to the mouse. The second is to study why/how these ES cells maintain their pluripotency and undergo differentiation in defined conditions.
The third is to investigate the specification and development of germ cells. The fourth is to establish the possibility and conditions for full recapitulation of spermatogenesis in vitro. To this, the fish medaka serves as the model and germ cell-specific genes are of interest. We collaborate with Professor M. Schartl (Wuerzburg, Germany) on medaka p53 gene for understanding of molecular cancer biology, and with the Institute of Hydrobiology (Wuhan, China) in reproductive biology and engineering of model and aquaculture fish. Currently, our work team consists of 2 research fellows, 4 research assistants/officers and 6 postgraduate students.
Address: Department of Biological Sciences National University of Singapore 14 Science Drive 4 S(117543)
