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.

New Penn Medicine research shows vital role of Esrp1 and Esrp2 genes in skin, organ development

Knocking out one or both crucial regulatory genes caused cleft lip, skin barrier defects, and a host of other developmental problems in mice, according to new research from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, hinting that abnormalities in these molecular pathways could underlie many birth defects that are presently not well understood. The two closely related regulatory genes are active in the normal development of mammals and govern how RNAs produced from the genes are joined to make final versions of the encoded protein, a process called alternative splicing.

16 Sep 2015

Scientists identify a gene that can cause more aggressive cancer in AML patients

University of Manchester scientists have identified a gene - FOXC1 - that, if switched on, causes more aggressive cancer in a fifth of acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) patients, according to a Cancer Research UK study published in the journal Cancer Cell, today (Monday).

14 Sep 2015

Scientists map genes responsible for early embryonic development in humans

An international team of scientists led from Sweden's Karolinska Institutet has for the first time mapped all the genes that are activated in the first few days of a fertilized human egg. The study, which is being published in the journal Nature Communications, provides an in-depth understanding of early embryonic development in human - and scientists now hope that the results will help finding for example new therapies against infertility.

3 Sep 2015

Study sheds light on ways to improve embryonic wound healing in humans

It's like something out of a science-fiction movie - time-lapse photography showing how wounds in embryos of fruit flies heal themselves. The images are not only real; they shed light on ways to improve wound recovery in humans.

1 Sep 2015

UCSF study reveals molecular timing mechanism of stem cells

UC San Francisco researchers have for the first time developed a method to precisely control embryonic stem cell differentiation with beams of light, enabling them to be transformed into neurons in response to a precise external cue.

27 Aug 2015

Researchers discover how aggressive cells can invade healthy tissue during tumour development

Researchers supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation have discovered how aggressive cells can invade healthy tissue during the earliest stage of tumour development. This opens up new ways of attacking cancer at its root.

20 Aug 2015

Embryonic stem cells may help researchers to study physiological effects of environmental pollutants on human health

A recent study published in the Journal of Environmental Sciences shows that embryonic stem cells could serve as a model to evaluate the physiological effects of environmental pollutants efficiently and cost-effectively.

11 Aug 2015

Research: Critical aspects of human genome's regulatory program encoded by genomic sequence elements

Since the classical studies of Jacob and Monod in the early 1960s, it has been evident that genome sequences contain not only blueprints for genes and the proteins that they encode, but also the instructions for a coordinated regulatory program that governs when, where and to what extent these genes and proteins are expressed.

4 Aug 2015

Study demonstrates significance of EMT as potential therapeutic target for reversing kidney disease

Adults who are worried or terrified sometimes curl up into a fetal position. Likewise, adult cells that are injured, including genetic injury leading to cancer, initiate a process that was present during embryonic development.

4 Aug 2015

Researchers establish safety, dosing of new drug for treating blood cancers

Researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have established the safety and dosing of a new drug for treating blood cancers. The findings are published online July 27 in The Lancet Haematology.

29 Jul 2015

Vital molecular mechanism in plants has similarities to certain signaling mechanisms in humans

Scientists at Van Andel Research Institute have revealed an important molecular mechanism in plants that has significant similarities to certain signaling mechanisms in humans, which are closely linked to early embryonic development and to diseases such as cancer.

25 Jul 2015

IRB Barcelona scientists provide molecular details about Seckel Syndrome

Today in Nature Communications, scientists at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona) provide molecular details about Seckel Syndrome, a rare disease that causes microcephaly, or small brain, and growth delays.

8 Jul 2015

Breast tumors have something in common with embryos, say MD Anderson researchers

It may seem incredulous, but breast tumors may have something in common with embryos ... at least in mice, say researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

1 Jul 2015

TSRI scientists awarded $2.1 million grant to study protein closely linked to Parkinson's disease

Scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute have been awarded $2.1 million from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke of The National Institutes of Health (NIH) to study a protein that has been closely linked in animal models to Parkinson's disease and Huntington's disease.

10 Jun 2015

Researchers reveal that 6.5% of de novo genetic mutations occur during embryonic development

Until now, de novo genetic mutations, alterations in a gene found for the first time in one family member, were believed to be mainly the result of new mutations in the sperm or eggs (germline) of one of the parents and passed on to their child.

7 Jun 2015

Oxygen regulatory pathway can act to trigger tissue regeneration in mice

A study led by Ellen Heber-Katz, PhD, of the Lankenau Institute for Medical Research, part of Main Line Health, shows that a primordial form of energy production that still exists in mammals can be harnessed to achieve spontaneous tissue regeneration in mice, without the need for added stem cells.

4 Jun 2015

$Study analyses advantages of using fractions of ejaculate in IVF$

Study analyses advantages of using fractions of ejaculate in IVF

Sperm in the first fraction of ejaculate are more numerous, move more and present better quality DNA than those lagging behind. This is the conclusion of a study led by the Ginemed fertility clinic, which confirms that while the objective of the first fraction is to fertilise the egg, the second phase is so that no sperm from any other male has a chance to fertilise it.

27 May 2015

Scientists reveal how lymphatic system develops in embryo

For over one hundred years, scientists have debated the question of the origins of the lymphatic system - a parallel system to the blood vessels that serves as a conduit for everything from immune cells to fat molecules to cancer cells. This issue has now been resolved by Dr. Karina Yaniv of Weizmann Institute's Biological Regulation Department. In a study reported online today in Nature, she and her team revealed how the lymphatic system develops in the embryo and for the first time managed to grow lymphatic cells in the lab.

21 May 2015

Nerve cells guide each other during embryonic development

When nerve cells form in an embryo they do not start off in the right place but have to be guided to their final position by navigating a kind of molecular and cellular "map" in order to function properly. In a recent research study published in Nature Communications neurobiologist Sara Wilson, Umeå University, found that during embryonic development different parts of the nerve cell are important for guiding other nerve cells into their physical positions.

20 May 2015

Gadusol compound can provide a systemic sunscreen to humans

Researchers have discovered why many animal species can spend their whole lives outdoors with no apparent concern about high levels of solar exposure: they make their own sunscreen.

14 May 2015