My laboratory is primarily a developmental genetics laboratory, and we study the development of the insect central nervous system (CNS) using the model species Drosophila melanogaster (the fruit fly) and Tribolium castaneum (the flour beetle). We use a variety of approaches spanning genetics, molecular biology, cell biology, and biochemistry to investigate how the insect nervous system is properly wired during embryonic development. Our primary focus is on axon guidance, the process by which neurons extend membrane processes (axons) across long distances in search of the target cells with which they will form the cell-cell connections (synapses) necessary for the proper functioning of the nervous system. Our research focuses on the roles of the midline repellant ligand Slit and its Roundabout (Robo) receptors in midline crossing and axon pathway formation in Drosophila and Tribolium.