Thamarailingam Athilingam

I use Drosophila embryogenesis as a quantitative model system to understand how dynamic gene expression and morphogen signalling coordinate tissue patterning during development. My research integrates quantitative live imaging, single-molecule biophysics, and endogenous fluorescent reporter engineering to investigate: 1. The transcriptional and translational dynamics of maternal morphogens at single-molecule resolution. 2. The biophysical mechanisms governing morphogen transport and gradient formation across developing tissues. 3. The spatiotemporal regulation of mesoderm specification and patterning through quantitative analysis of endogenous signalling and gene expression dynamics.