Skull birth defect detailed in cell-by-cell description

Contrary to the popular song, the neck bone is actually connected to one of 22 separate head bones that make up the human skull. These plate-like bones intersect at specialized joints called sutures, which normally allow ...

Recreating the earliest stages of life

In their effort to understand the very earliest stages of life and how they can go wrong, scientists are confronted with ethical issues surrounding the use of human embryos. The use of animal embryos is also subject to restrictions ...

Advanced mouse embryos grown outside the uterus

To observe how a tiny ball of identical cells on its way to becoming a mammalian embryo first attaches to an awaiting uterine wall and then develops into nervous system, heart, stomach and limbs: This has been a highly-sought ...

Organoids produce embryonic heart

There was a time when the idea of growing organs in the lab was the stuff of science fiction. Today, stem cell biology and tissue engineering are turning fiction into reality with the advent of organoids: tiny lab-grown tissues ...

Lipid metabolism controls brain development

Neural stem cells are not only responsible for early brain development—they remain active for an entire lifetime. They divide and continually generate new nerve cells and enable the brain to constantly adapt to new demands. ...

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