The need for specialization in multicellular organisms has driven the evolutionary emergence of an increasing number of cell types. Among the various tissues, the nervous system exhibits the greatest cellular diversity at the morphological, functional, and molecular levels. Changes in gene regulatory networks have been proposed as a fundamental driver of cell-type diversification during evolution; however, the molecular mechanisms underlying these changes remain largely unknown. Among the proposed mechanisms, the mobilization of transposable elements has proven to be a highly effective and versatile tool for generating new genes, isoforms, and expression patterns. In collaboration with  Dr. Nuria Flames lab at the IBV (CSIC), we are exploring the role of transposable elements the Caenorhabditis nervous system.