Laboratory of Artificial & Natural Evolution

Welcome to the Milinkovitch-Tzika lab website (the Laboratory of Artificial & Natural Evolution — LANE). In a nutshell, our highly multidisciplinary team of biologists, bioinformaticians, physicists, computer scientists and mathematicians investigates the developmental and evolutionary mechanisms generating Life’s complexity and diversity (or maybe should we say ‘Life’s Beauty’). We study multiple non-classical model species, mainly reptiles and ‘exotic’ mammals, that can inform us on yet unknown exciting biological and physical processes generating this complex and diverse living world.

Central to our reasoning is that a proper understanding of the complexity and diversity of organismal forms cannot be achieved without integrating the physical constrains acting on the developmental and Darwinian processes. Our research requires integrating data and methods from comparative genomics, molecular developmental genetics, as well as physical experiments, mathematical modelling and numerical simulations.

More specifically, we investigate the interactions between physical (mechanics, reaction-diffusion) and biological (cell signalling, growth) processes that generate and constrain the variety and complexity of skin appendages (scales, hairs, spines), skin colours (pigmentary and structural), and skin colour patterns in tetrapods (four-limbed vertebrates).

Use the navigation bar at the top of the page, to explore our research topics (what we do), our scientific approach and animal models (how we do it), our scientific motivation (why we do it), and our team (who does it).

What's new?

  • A 3D-Artist is joining the LANE

    September 1st, 2023

    Today, Fabrice Berger, a talented 3D artist, is joining the LANE.

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  • Two new Post-Docs join the LANE

    August 25th, 2023

    Pierre-Yves Helleboid & Muhamet Ibrahimi are joining our team

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  • The University of Geneva enters the ‘top 50’ in world ranking

    August 25th, 2023

    The University of Geneva (UNIGE) has entered the top 50 in the 2023 Academic Ranking of World Universities

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  • Two new sections on our website

    July 11th, 2023

    Check out new sections ‘Visual Media’ and ‘Awesomeness’.

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