study demonstrate how complex patterns in linear molecules emerge from interactions in 3-dimensions. Developmental genetics in chordates With his doctoral advisor Michael Levine, Erives authored several papers on ascidian developmental genetics, with key insights into the evolution of the proto-vertebrate body plan. This work used the Ciona system to generate copious amounts of embryos that were then electroporated with enhancer DNAs. In collaboration with Nori Satoh's lab at the University of Kyoto in Japan, where Erives spent a winter doing research, they also identified the largest collection of notochord specific genes by using genetically altered Ciona over-expressing the Brachyury transcription factor. The notochord is a defining evolutionary innovation of the chordate body plan and this work was designed to advance understanding of the morphogenetic signals emanating from this important developmental and structural tissue. CodeGrok, Inc. In 2001, Erives co-founded the Caltech-associated company CodeGrok (code "grok") with Paul Mineiro, currently a Principal Research Software Developer for Microsoft. It was started in Pasadena, California but later moved to Berkeley, California after its second round of financing. In its first three years, CodeGrok developed and used machine learning methods to identify, classify, and clone transcriptional enhancers from the human genome and construct pathway-specific cell-based reporters for drug screening and other applications. The company took its name from the Robert Heinlein novel Stranger in a Strange Land and its concept of grok, which is to understand something deeply and intuitively, in reference to the goal of "grokking" the regulatory code of the human genome. While the company is no longer in existence, it is often cited as a humorous example of what not to do in naming a start-up company as many people were unable to pronounce the name. References External links University of Iowa faculty page The developmental genetics of space and time Erives’s Lab Page at Dartmouth College Dartmouth Professor Recognized with NSF CAREER award Dartmouth biologist makes major discovery in molecular evolution Living people 1972 births California Institute of Technology alumni 21st-century American biologists