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Complex organisms (such as humans, mice or flies) are formed by millions of cells. But those cells are not all the same, they have divided into groups or families of cells, and each group is specialised in doing a certain function in the organism. Therefore, we have similar cells that work together to form the arteries that transport the blood throughout the organism, and other different cells that form the bones that give shape to the organism, for example.

Hence, organisms are formed by many different cell types that carry out specific functions, and are located in different places in the organism.  But all of this diversity originates from a single cell embryo, formed by the fusion of a sperm and egg cells, which have a single set of genetic information (genome). So, how is it possible that with only one set of information, the single cell embryo develops so many different cells to create a complex organism? This is one of the key questions in Biology, and there is a whole discipline dedicated to answer it: Developmental Biology.

The aim of my research is to get a better understanding of the development of a single cell embryo into a complex organism formed by several different specialised cells. From all the different types of cells that form an organism, my research is focused on understanding the development of the pigment cells that give colour to our skin, called melanocytes, in the early stages of embryonic development, just after the egg cell has been fertilised by the sperm.

Melanocytes are pigment cells that have a brownish colour, and give the colour to our skin. Errors in the genes that regulate their behaviour make them to lose control, causing skin cancer (melanoma). Melanoma is one of the most aggressive types of cancer, and it has difficult treatment. Therefore, understanding the genes that regulate the development of melanocytes and how they work is very important to figure out what makes a melanocyte become a cancer cell.

To understand the development of melanocytes we use zebrafish as a model organism, where we perform the experiments that we cannot do in humans. These little fish are very useful in research because they are cheap to grow and easy to maintain, their embryos are transparent which allows us to follow the melanocytes development without disturbing the fish, and also the adult fish produce lots of embryos when they mate which allows us to do the experiments using a high number of samples.

My day usually starts in the fish aquarium, where we have all the zebrafish. There, I have to collect the embryos from the zebrafish that I set up the night before. We have lots of adult fish in big tanks, and when I need embryos for my experiments I have to separate the fish from the big tanks, and put them in couples in smaller tanks for them to mate and lay eggs. I usually do this the evening before I need the embryos. Then, the fish couples are together all the night, and in the next morning the female lays eggs and the male releases the sperm, which fertilises the eggs creating embryos. Just after that, I collect the embryos for my experiments.

Once I have the embryos I need, I come back to the lab and start the experiments. They usually take more than one day, and there are many times where I have to incubate my embryos with some substances for a long time. I use that time to go to the computer in the office, and analyse some previous results, or to plan the next experiments I want to do. I can also use that waiting time to read scientific articles about the research that other groups are doing in my field, to get new ideas and learn new experimental techniques that I could use in my research. When the experiment with the embryos is done, I have to go to the microscope to take pictures of the results.

At lunchtime, we usually have seminars in the department, where scientists from other universities come to talk about their research and show their results. After the talk, we have the opportunity to ask them questions, which is very useful to ask all the doubts we have about their experiments.

After the seminars, I come back to the lab to follow my experiments and then, before going home, I go to the aquarium to set up the fish couples that I need to get embryos the following morning.

Some days, I also meet with my supervisor to discuss my results, and to plan the next experiments that I should do.