Research in the Lane lab is focussed on how large multi-gene families in mammalian genomes are utilized in the development of complex biological functions. Our specific focus is on the development of olfactory sensory perception, which depends on co-regulation of a very large olfactory receptor (OR) gene family (with >1000 gene members). The lab utilizes a variety of modern techniques in molecular genetics, cell biology, and comparative genomics to investigate the genetic and epigenetic mechanisms of OR transcriptional control.