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.

Researchers explore biological processes of stem cell division

The human body contains trillions of cells, all derived from a single cell, or zygote, made by the fusion of an egg and a sperm. That single cell contains all the genetic information needed to develop into a human, and passes identical copies of that information to each new cell as it divides into the many diverse types of cells that make up a complex organism like a human being.

6 May 2013

Study reveals how the properties of embryonic stem cells are controlled

Scientists have made a fundamental discovery about how the properties of embryonic stem cells are controlled.

3 May 2013

Newly discovered ‘master regulator’ gene may help develop novel treatment for drug-resistant tumors

Researchers at Johns Hopkins have identified a gene that, when repressed in tumor cells, puts a halt to cell growth and a range of processes needed for tumors to enlarge and spread to distant sites. The researchers hope that this so-called "master regulator" gene may be the key to developing a new treatment for tumors resistant to current drugs.

3 May 2013

TSRI scientists find dissimilar genes that keep very similar shapes

Solving the structure of a critical human molecule involved in cancer, scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have found what they call a good example of structural conservation-dissimilar genes that keep very similar shapes.

2 May 2013

Researchers discover 14 new genetic variations associated with heart rate

Through a collaborative genome-wide study on individuals, researchers have discovered 14 new genetic variations that are associated with heart rate.

15 Apr 2013

Mother's stress associated with development of pathologies related with obesity

The intrauterine environment plays an important role in the health of the offspring. Now, experts from the University of Navarra affirm that the mother's stress, due to socio-economic or psycho-social causes, is associated with the development of pathologies related with obesity.

10 Apr 2013

Scientists succeed to control cells' behavior using light

Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have shown they can coax cells to move toward a beam of light. The feat is a first step toward manipulating cells to control insulin secretion or heart rate using light.

9 Apr 2013

Johns Hopkins scientist awarded Ho-Am prize for discovery of myostatin

South Korea's Ho-Am Foundation announced that Johns Hopkins researcher Se-Jin Lee, M.D., Ph.D., has won this year's Ho-Am Prize in Medicine.

5 Apr 2013

Anirban Maitra to lead pancreatic cancer research at UT MD Anderson Cancer Center

Anirban Maitra, M.B.B.S., a pre-eminent expert in the genetics of pancreatic cancer and the development of targeted therapies for the disease, will lead research at a new center at The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center devoted to this highly lethal cancer.

5 Apr 2013

Research shows certain cells take on new identities through reprogramming mechanism

Researchers have been able to reprogram cells experimentally, but few have shown that cells can change their identities under normal physiological conditions in the body, particularly in mammals.

29 Mar 2013

Study: Neural-crest stem cells also play a key role in building olfactory sensory neurons

When our noses pick up a scent, whether the aroma of a sweet rose or the sweat of a stranger at the gym, two types of sensory neurons are at work in sensing that odor or pheromone.

26 Mar 2013

MIT biology professor named Pew's Biomedical Researcher of the Month

Biologist Mary Gehring, Ph.D. is The Pew Charitable Trusts' featured biomedical researcher of the month for her creative research on epigenetics in plants.

25 Mar 2013

Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience gets grant for research into neurological disorders

The Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience, the first and only U.S. extension of the prestigious Max Planck Society, today announced it has received approximately $1,257,500 in grant funding from prestigious national and international organizations to fund research into Parkinson-s, epilepsy and other neurological disorders.

15 Mar 2013

Mir-125a-5p plays an essential role in ensuring that embryonic tissue segments form properly

New research shows that a tiny piece of RNA has an essential role in ensuring that embryonic tissue segments form properly.

12 Mar 2013

New bio-mimicking therapeutics could help treat skin wounds

In "before" and "after" photos from advertisements for wound-healing ointments, bandages and antibiotic creams, we see an injury transformed from an inflamed red gash to smooth and flawless skin. What we don't appreciate is the vital role that our own natural biomolecules play in the healing process, including their contribution to the growth of new cells and the development of new blood vessels that provide nutrients to those cells.

21 Feb 2013

Scientists explore development of unique dentition of 'toothed whales'

Whales are mammals, but they don't look like the mammals living around us, as they have a triangular fluke for tail, no hind legs and no body hair. And inside their mouths, their teeth are unfamiliar too - being much simpler and 'peg like'. A multidisciplinary team of researchers have now married together the fossil record and the embryonic development process to investigate how the whale got its teeth.

19 Feb 2013

Article details mechanism by which long non-coding RNA-activators promote gene expression

Long segments of RNA- encoded in our DNA but not translated into protein-are key to physically manipulating DNA in order to activate certain genes, say researchers at The Wistar Institute. These non-coding RNA-activators (ncRNA-a) have a crucial role in turning genes on and off during early embryonic development, researchers say, and have also been connected with diseases, including some cancers, in adults.

18 Feb 2013

FOXC2 vital to epithelial-mesenchymal transition in breast cancer

Researchers have identified a pivotal protein in a cellular transformation that makes a cancer cell more resistant to treatment and more capable of growing and spreading, making it an inviting new target for drug development.

14 Feb 2013

Researchers create high-resolution map of gene regulatory elements in the brain

Future research into the underlying causes of neurological disorders such as autism, epilepsy and schizophrenia, should greatly benefit from a first-of-its-kind atlas of gene-enhancers in the cerebrum (telencephalon).

2 Feb 2013

Biomaterials as neural stem cell niches can help repair damage in the CNS

Despite recent advances in understanding the mechanisms of nerve injury, tissue-engineering solutions for repairing damage in the central nervous system (CNS) remain elusive, owing to the crucial and complex role played by the neural stem cell (NSC) niche. This zone, in which stem cells are retained after embryonic development for the production of new cells, exerts a tight control over many crucial tasks such as growth promotion and the recreation of essential biochemical and physical cues for neural cell differentiation.

30 Jan 2013