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John Ewer     (WEB PAGE) je24 @ cornell.edu 5130 Comstock      607-255-1395   [edit] Faculty Department: Entomology Field: Entomology; Genetics and Development; Neurobiology and Behavior Keywords: Behavioral genetics (7), Cell and Molecular Neuroscience (23), Development (21), Drosophila (4), Genetics (9), Neuroendocrinology (7), Neuroethology (24), Neuromodulation (12), Systems Neuroscience (25) Neuroscience-related courses taught Instructor: BIONB 394: Circadian rhythms I am interested in the neural and genetic control of behavior. The main project in the lab is understanding the mechanisms that controls ecdysis, the behavior that allows insects to shed their old cuticle. Insect growth occurs through multiple stages. At the end of each stage the animal molts and produces a new cuticle for the next stage. The molt culminates with ecdysis, the shedding of the old cuticle. The occurrence of ecdysis is tightly regulated, both by development, as well as by the biological clock (at adult emergence). Both its timing as well as its execution is controlled by a number of interacting neuropeptide hormones. Thus, ecdysis behavior is a good model system for understanding how behavior is coordinated with development, how neuropeptides and neurohormones regulate behavior, and how the circadian (biological) clock causes behaviors to be express a circadian rhythmicity. Most of our work is carried out using Drosophila, taking advantage of the genetic and molecular tools available in this organism to identify components involved in the control of ecdysis behavior, and determine their role in vivo. We also use other insect species to examine how the control of this behavior has changed during insect evolution. Also visit my Research/Photo Gallery entry

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