In my research, I combine molecular biology, genetic and in vivo genetic engineering (e.g., CRISPR-Cas9) tools for answering different functional genetic questions in insects. My postdoc at ISEM focuses on caste determination in the ants Messor barbarus. In this species, caste of the female offspring (queens or workers) depends on their parents’ genotypes according to a system named “social hybridogenesis”. My objective is to experimentally determine what genes are involved in this caste determination.