MSc Developmental Biology

Our research-focused MSc Developmental Biology course will give you extensive hands-on experience of conducting research into how fertilised eggs turn into complex multicellular organisms.

You will learn through an interactive approach involving seminars, workshops and small group tutorials rather than traditional lectures.

You will also undertake placements in the labs of leading researchers working on a range of model organisms and diverse areas of developmental biology.

Examples of developmental biology research at Manchester include:

studies of gene expression and cell signalling in model organisms, such as Drosophila, Xenopus and mice, which are illuminating the mechanisms by which different cell types and tissues arise during development. Findings obtained from these studies serve as general principles relating to human development;
exploring how misregulation of developmental mechanisms leads to human diseases, eg cancer, using various models;
research into the mechanisms regulating stem cell maintenance and differentiation to harness the therapeutic potential of stem cells;
looking at the healing process to improve wound repair and the longer-term regeneration of organs.