Zinan Wang Lab

Arthropod Molecular Biology

In the past millions of years, organisms have evolved countless traits that allow them to live in diverse and extreme environments. They have now occupied each small niche on Earth, from volcanoes to the polar, from alpines to deep oceans, from rainforests to deserts. It is fascinating to learn from these organisms about their adaptational strategies, as well as underlying physiological and genetic mechanisms. These intricate mechanisms in different species provide a precious treasure for us to explore. Insights gained from them will allow us to foresee how species would evolve in the future and inspire discoveries in many other disciplines.

Our lab investigates the molecular mechanisms underlying the evolution of novel physiological traits in arthropod species, as well as the physiological adaptation to diverse and extreme environments.

In the lab, we use fruit fly species (Drosophila spp.) as a focus system to determine the molecular changes that allow species to evolve and adapt to stressful habitats, such as deserts. We also focus on interesting physiological traits in diverse arthropod species. In addition to fruit flies, we work on two interesting arthropod taxa, scale insects (Hemiptera: Coccoidea) and scorpions (Chelicerata: Scorpiones).

We are located in the Department of Entomology at the University of Kentucky in Lexington!