Feathers have diverse forms and are an excellent model for studying the development and evolution of morphological traits. The complex structure of feathers allows for various types of morphological changes to occur. The genetic basis of the structural differences between different parts of a feather and between different types of feather is a fundamental question in the study of feather diversity, but has not been well studied. Dr Li and his colleagues have used genomic, transcriptomic and proteomic approaches to study this issue. He will present the major results of our research in my talk.