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Dr Caroline BeckBSc (Hons), PhD

Dr Caroline Beck is a developmental biologist in the Department of Zoology at the University of Otago.

She is interested in understanding the complex gene regulation required to “build” an animal from a single cell. Caroline's research lab has a particular interest in the development of organs, such as the vertebrate limb and eye, and the ability of some vertebrates to regenerate these organs.  The work relies heavily on model animals to reveal how complex structures are built and – in the case of regeneration after injury – rebuilt. While most of the work uses amphibian models, such as Xenopus laevis (clawed frogs), the zebrafish fin is also used for complementary studies on regeneration.

Caroline gained a BSc (Hons) in Medical Biochemistry at the University of Birmingham and a PhD in Biological Sciences at the University of Warwick, before undertaking a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Bath. She has been at Otago since 2004.

Further information

Further information about Caroline is available on the Department of Zoology website

Publications

Banerjee, S., Earl, C., Robson, S. C., Szyszka, P., & Beck, C. W. (2026). Seizures, increased interhemispheric synchrony, altered brain transcriptomics and a leaky blood-brain barrier result from loss of ap3b2 in a CRISPR tadpole model of DEE48. Frontiers in Neurology, 17, 1777738. doi: 10.3389/fneur.2026.1777738 Journal - Research Article

Beck, C. W., Banerjee, S., & Day, R. C. (2026). Neurod2 knockdown in Xenopus laevis tadpole brain retains cells in a proliferating, progenitor-like state. microPublication Biology, 2026. doi: 10.17912/micropub.biology.002018 Journal - Research Article

Lewis, B. A., Reader, K. L., Pankhurst, M. W., Beck, C. W., & Lokman, M. P. (2026). Comparative proteomic analysis of the zebrafish (Danio rerio) perivitelline fluid: Identifying putative cortical alveoli-associated proteins. Biology of Reproduction. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1093/biolre/ioag012 Journal - Research Article

Chapman, P. A., Day, R. C., Hudson, D. T., Ward, J. M., Morgan, X. C., & Beck, C. W. (2025). Commensal skin bacteria interact with the innate immune system to promote tail regeneration in Xenopus laevis tadpoles. Developmental Dynamics. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1002/dvdy.70088 Journal - Research Article

Lewis, B. A., Lokman, P. M., & Beck, C. W. (2025). A novel approach to perivitelline fluid extraction from live water-activated eggs from Zebrafish, Danio rerio. Fishes, 10, 369. doi: 10.3390/fishes10080369 Journal - Research Article

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