Enrique Alejandro Reynaud Garza, Ph.D.

Research

I am interested in how genes control the development of the architecture of the central nervous system higher order structures, such as functionally defined neural networks, which in turn control behavior and various physiological processes. My group is taking advantage of the very sophisticated genetic and molecular techniques that exist in Drosophila in order to genetically tag and inactivate but not kill functionally related neurons. We are currently studying how neural networks control egg-laying behavior, modulation of neurotransmitter release and motor control. We have been able to find functional discrete neural networks that when inactivated, disrupt the aforementioned processes and we have been able to correlate them with genes that are expressed solely in these neurons. We believe that this approach will allow us to better understand the way genes control behavior. He is currently using Drosophila melanogaster as a model organism to study the cellular and molecular bases of neurodegenerative diseases as well as to study the development of the central nervous system in higher animals. He is also founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Biodetecta, a Molecular Diagnostic Company that aims to commercialize scientific technologies developed by scientists of the National University of M�xico.