Michael Akam

University Museum of Zoology & Laboratory for Development and Evolution
Department of Zoology
Downing Street
Cambridge, CB2 3EJ, UK
Group Homepage

The Akam group studies the evolution of developmental mechanisms in arthropods, with particular interests in axis specification and segmentation.  They study a range of species including both laboratory models like Drosophila, which allow sophisticated genetic experiments, and less well studied organisms like centipedes and onychophorans (the sister phylum to the arthropods).  Although not convenient lab models, these taxa occupy phylogenetic positions significant for our understanding of arthropods as a whole. 

The EvoNet Ph.D. students will study the gene networks underlying head patterning and segmentation, with one post focusing on groups relatively closely related to Drosophila, and a second working with more basal arthropod lineages, including hemimetabolous insects and centipedes. The exact details of the projects are open to discussion according to the particular interests of the researchers appointed.