Embryos' signals take multiple paths
Rice University scientists have found significant differences between the methods signaling pathways use to prompt cells to differentiate – that is, whether to become organs, bone, blood vessels, nerves or skin.
Mar 07, 2019
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Molecular connection between nutrient availability and embryonic growth identified
The union of an ovule and a spermatozoon initiates a complex cell division process that will ultimately yield a new living being. In fact, all the body's cells come from embryonic stem cells that must divide in a controlled ...
Embryos' signaling proteins go with the flow
How cells in developing embryos communicate depends a great deal on context, according to scientists at Rice University.
Chimpanzee 'mini-brains' hint at secrets of human evolution
At some point during human evolution, a handful of genetic changes triggered a dramatic threefold expansion of the brain's neocortex, the wrinkly outermost layer of brain tissue responsible for everything from language to ...
How stem cells self-organize in the developing embryo
Embryonic development is a process of profound physical transformation, one that has challenged researchers for centuries. How do genes and molecules control forces and tissue stiffness to orchestrate the emergence of form ...
The source of stem cells points to two proteins
Mammalian embryos are unlike those of any other organism as they must grow within the mother's body. While other animal embryos grow outside the mother, their embryonic cells can get right to work accepting assignments, such ...
Honeybee protein keeps stem cells youthful
An active protein component of royal jelly helps honeybees create new queens. Stanford researchers have identified a similar protein in mammals, which keeps cultured embryonic stem cells pluripotent.
Maintaining the unlimited potential of stem cells
Embryonic stem cells (ESCs) are the very definition of being full of potential, given that they can become any type of cell in the body. Once they start down any particular path toward a type of tissue, they lose their unlimited ...
Team uncovers the underlying mechanisms of 3-D tissue formation
If you want to build an organ for transplant, you need to think in 3-D. Using stem cells, scientists are now able to grow parts of organs in the lab, but that is a far cry from constructing a fully-formed, functioning, three-dimensional ...
New cell movement process key to understanding and repairing facial malformations
The embryonic stem cells that form facial features, called neural crest cells, use an unexpected mechanism of moving from the back of the head to the front to populate the face, finds a new UCL-led study.
