Welcome to the
Musser Lab
Freshwater sponge archaeocyte stem cells (red) and nuclei (blue)
Our lab investigates one of the great mysteries of animal evolution, how animals evolved to make specialized cells and orchestrate complex multicellular behavior. This required a suite of new inventions: genomic mechanisms to generate distinct genetic programs, new machinery to enact specialized cell functions, and novel intercellular signaling to coordinate cells.
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To understand these innovations, we study sponges, sea anemones, and other early-branching animal lineages that provide a unique window into early animal life and reveal general principles of animal cell architecture.
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A key new direction in the lab is developing AI and large language model approaches to infer cell-type and protein evolution across deep time. Learn more about our research into AI and evolution here.