Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology

The Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology strives to develop new knowledge through basic research about the function of living organisms with focus on the molecular and cellular levels of all branches of life - bacteria, plants, and animals. Our faculty research strengths are animal physiology and neurobiology, biochemistry, cell biology, developmental biology, microbiology and plant molecular biology. We are home to the undergraduate concentration in Cell and Molecular Biology that graduates nearly 200 students per year. Our General Public and Pre-College Students section offers answers to questions about biology. We hope you find our site informative!

Marcus Ammerlaan

has been awarded the Teagle Fellowship for the 2009-10 academic year to examine the way students learn. Read more.

Stimulus Funds

totaling $1,720,483 have been awarded to MCDB researchers. Professor Steven Clark, Assistant Professor Catherine Collins, Professor Robert Denver, and Professor and Chair Pamela Raymond received the grants to assist in advancing their work.
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MCDB Researchers

Zhao Qin, professor and chair Pamela Raymond, and research laboratory specialist Linda Barthel are featured in the U-M News Services article "Like a zebrafish's new fin: Regrowing body parts."
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Daniel Klionsky

has been quoted in The New York Times for his paper in Trends in Cell Biology on autophagy.
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A plant-specific calreticulin is a key retention factor for a defective brassinosteroid receptor in the endoplasmic reticulum

Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2009 Aug 11;106(32):13612-7

Jin H, Hong Z, Su W, Li J

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Mammalian calreticulin (CRT) is a multifunctional Ca(2+)-binding protein involved in more than 40 cellular processes in various subcellular compartments, such as Ca(2+) storage and protein folding in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). CRT homologues were discovered in plants almost 15 years ago, and recent studies revealed that many plant species contain 2 or more CRTs that are members of 2 distinct families, the CRT1/2 family and the plant-specific CRT3 family. However, little is known about their physiological functions. Read the full abstract.