His Nobel Prize winning studies with Drosophila founded the field of developmental genetics and laid the groundwork for our current understanding of the universal , evolutionarily conserved strategies controlling animal development . His Nobel Prize winning studies with Drosophila , ( including the discovery of the Drosophila Bithorax complex and elucidation of its function ) , founded the field of developmental genetics and laid the groundwork for our current understanding of the universal , evolutionarily conserved strategies controlling animal development .