Embryonic Development News and Research

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Embryonic development or embryogenesis is the process by which the embryo is formed and develops. It starts with the fertilization of the ovum, egg, which, after fertilization, is then called a zygote. The zygote undergoes rapid mitotic divisions, the formation of two exact genetic replicates of the original cell, with no significant growth (a process known as cleavage) and cellular differentiation, leading to development of an embryo.

Using light to control crucial step in embryonic development

In optogenetics, researchers use light to control protein activity. This technique allows them to alter the shape of embryonic tissue and to inhibit the development of abnormalities.

16 Nov 2018

3 Harvard scientists receive Allen awards for work in neuroimmunology, developmental biology, cancer

Three Harvard Medical School scientists have received the prestigious Allen Distinguished Investigator awards for their work in the fields of neuroimmunology, developmental biology and cancer.

31 Oct 2018

Ten Allen Distinguished Investigators for 2018 announced by Paul G. Allen Frontiers Group

Nanoparticles that could reprogram a cancer patient's immune system inside their own body. Understanding a mysterious type of brain cell in the hopes of shedding new light on Alzheimer's disease. Reimagining nuclei, the DNA-storage compartments of our cells, as miniature lava lamps.

30 Oct 2018

Dysfunction of single gene leads to miscarriages

A single gene of the mother plays such a crucial role in the development of the placenta that its dysfunction leads to miscarriages.

19 Oct 2018

Researchers examine SSRI use during pregnancy and major gestational malformations

A comprehensive new review article presents the most current understanding of the role selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors play in increased risk of multiple diverse gestational malformations and takes aim at the ongoing debate over whether SSRIs as a drug class can cause these malformations.

16 Oct 2018

Amputation injury is reflected in bioelectric properties of opposing, undamaged limb

In research that extends knowledge about the physiology of regeneration and wound repair, Tufts University biologists have discovered that amputation of one limb is immediately reflected in the bioelectric properties of the contralateral, or opposing, undamaged limb of developing frogs.

5 Oct 2018

Researchers create pseudo-embryos that mimic human embryos

Researchers have created murine pseudo-embryos that form the three major axes of the body and are able to accurately mimic human embryos.

3 Oct 2018

Study shows how the drive to eat overpowers the brain’s signal to stop

University of Michigan researchers have studied two groups of brain cells that compete for the control of feeding behaviour and found that cells that drive the urge to eat overpower the ones that signal to stop.

21 Sep 2018

Study: Neural signal that urges to eat overpowers the one that says to stop

Almost everyone knows the feeling. You're at a restaurant or a holiday meal, and your stomach is telling you it's full, so logically you know you should stop eating.

21 Sep 2018

New study focuses on two-way gene switches controlling gene activity

Led by ICREA research professors at the Centre for Genomic Regulation, Luciano Di Croce and Marc A. Marti-Renom, the study focused on a set of genes with what's known as bivalent promoters - two-way genetic 'control switches' that are poised either to turn on in early development and rapidly drive high levels of gene activity, or to switch off and shut down the gene completely.

20 Sep 2018

Researchers use CRISPR screen to reveal new targets in squamous cell carcinomas

A little p63 goes a long way in embryonic development - and flaws in p63 can result in birth defects like cleft palette, fused fingers or even missing limbs.

18 Sep 2018

Salk research in yeast leads to serendipitous finding about hypomyelinating leukodystrophy

Studying the fundamental aspects of biology can sometimes lead to unexpected findings that directly relate to human disease. In one of the latest examples of scientific serendipity, researchers from the Salk Institute found that an important quality control mechanism in baker's yeast is closely connected to hypomyelinating leukodystrophy, a debilitating disease found in children.

17 Sep 2018

Scientists get unprecedented view of brain development through high-resolution genomic map

Researchers at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital have created a massive database of the changes in gene activity of individual cells in the cerebellum during embryonic development and immediately after birth.

14 Sep 2018

Exeter’s new system can probe microscopic environments inside cells

A new system capable of probing microscopic environments inside cells has been installed at the University of Exeter's Bioimaging Centre.

7 Sep 2018

Researchers crack mystery of how embryos are physically constructed

Using state-of-the-art techniques he developed, UC Santa Barbara researcher Otger Campàs and his group have cracked this longstanding mystery, revealing the astonishing innerworkings of how embryos are physically constructed.

6 Sep 2018

Researchers discover how a protein complex safeguards against certain brain tumors

Researchers have discovered how a molecule can help prevent certain types of brain tumors by recognizing and 'disarming' harmful proteins that cause them.

5 Sep 2018

Scientists explore DNA replication errors that can lead to cancer

Scientists at Hollings Cancer Center at the Medical University of South Carolina have found that some cells can divide without a molecule that was previously thought necessary.

30 Aug 2018

Study provides new clues to connection between aging and neurodegeneration

For decades researchers have worked to shed light on the causes of neurodegenerative disorders, a group of devastating conditions, including Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, that involve the progressive loss of neurons and nervous system function. In recent years, numerous factors, from genetic mutations to viral infections, have been found to contribute to the development of these diseases.

23 Aug 2018

Gene therapy with telomerase does not increase cancer risk, study shows

Negative results and findings in science are perhaps less newsworthy, but they are no less important. Particularly when, as in this case, they demonstrate that a possible new therapeutic pathway against idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and other diseases associated to short telomeres is in fact safe.

21 Aug 2018

Atlas of the nervous system provides new clues about origin of neurological diseases

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have created a systematic and detailed map of the cell types of the mouse nervous system.

9 Aug 2018