Welcome to the 
Musser Lab

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.

 

To understand this, our lab studies sponges, comb jellies, and other early-branching animal lineages that provide a unique window into early animal life and give insight into the general principles of animal cell architecture.