Ober, Elke

Our group is interested in understanding organ formation in vertebrates, with focus on the liver as part of the digestive system. We are using the zebrafish Danio rerio as model organism to study the complex processes underlying the development of the liver, since it is amenable to a wide range of embryonic and genetic techniques. Moreover, in contrast to other vertebrates, the liver is not site of hematopoiesis in fish allowing to investigate hepatic development independently of defects due to anemia.