Developmental biology is the branch of biological sciences that investigates the processes by which organisms grow, differentiate, and acquire their form from fertilization to adulthood and often through regeneration and aging. It integrates molecular genetics, cell biology, genomics, and systems biology to elucidate mechanisms such as cell fate specification, pattern formation, morphogenesis, and organogenesis. Developmental biology examines regulatory gene networks, signaling pathways (e.g., Wnt, Hedgehog, Notch, TGF-β), epigenetic modifications, and mechanical forces that coordinate spatial and temporal control of gene expression and cellular behavior, providing a framework for understanding congenital disorders, tissue regeneration, and evolutionary changes in body plans.
Weill Cornell Medicine researchers have found that temporarily disabling a protein complex that organizes DNA into loops inside the cell's nucleus drastically disrupted the three-dimensional structure of the genome, but surprisingly, ...
Cell & Microbiology
Apr 13, 2026
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It has long been known that environmental conditions can shape how traits are inherited, a phenomenon known as transgenerational epigenetic inheritance. However, the molecular signals responsible for encoding this biological ...
Evolution
Apr 13, 2026
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Between 280 and 200 million years ago, a group of animals evolved which would eventually give rise to mammals, including humans: the therapsids. They were first described more than 150 years ago, based on fossils from South ...
Evolution
Apr 12, 2026
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Some animals can regrow lost body parts. Salamanders and frog tadpoles can rebuild entire limbs after amputation. Mammals cannot. For decades, biologists have tried to understand why. Now a team led by Can Aztekin at EPFL ...
Plants & Animals
Apr 9, 2026
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331
Researchers at Bar-Ilan University have discovered that changing just one letter in DNA can completely alter sex development in mice. In the new study, published in Nature Communications, a single-letter insertion in a non-coding ...
Molecular & Computational biology
Apr 9, 2026
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A study published in Cell Research advances a central idea in stem cell biology by identifying a checkpoint that controls the identity of many different types of stem cells across developmental stages. For nearly two decades, ...
Cell & Microbiology
Apr 8, 2026
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Stem cells are the body's ultimate shape-shifters, sustaining tissues by balancing two competing demands: maintaining their own population and generating specialized descendants. In many tissues, some early descendants can ...
Cell & Microbiology
Apr 7, 2026
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Researchers at Cornell University have developed a powerful new genetic toolkit that allows scientists to study how genes function at the level of individual cells, an advance that could accelerate discoveries in development, ...
Biotechnology
Apr 6, 2026
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It's easy to take our eyes for granted. But our recent research shows they took an incredible evolutionary journey to reach their current familiar form.
Evolution
Apr 4, 2026
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August Weismann's germ plasm theory of the late 19th century posited that only germ cells, e.g., sperm and egg cells in animals or pollen and ovule cells in plants, transmit genetic information to the next generation, and ...
Plants & Animals
Apr 2, 2026
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