Dr. Richard Meisel uses genetic and genomic approaches to study how environmental variation and sex differences influence genetic and phenotypic diversity within populations and between species. This work involves genetic analysis, organismal experimentation, genomic approaches, and modeling of biological processes. Current research is organized around three areas:

1. Sex chromosomes and sex determination. We are interested in the genetic mechanisms by which sex is determined, as well as the evolution of sex chromosomes and sex determination pathways. Most of this work is examining the polygenic sex determination system in the house fly and sex chromosome evolution in closely related species.
2. Sex differences. We are interested in the genetic basis and evolution of sexual dimorphism and other sex differences. Our work examines intra-sexual variation and sex differences in behavior, physiology, aging, and other phenotypes.
3. Animal-microbe interactions and immunity. We are studying how the innate immune system responds to bacterial infection, and how that innate immune response evolves. One potential application of this work is the development of novel antibiotic drugs.