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.

Mother's protein found to be involved in genomic imprinting process

Mothers leave their mark on their children in many ways - and Australian researchers have discovered a protein called SMCHD1 is involved in this 'imprinting' process.

24 Nov 2020

Study provides new insight into the formation of neural crest cells

Last year, researchers at the University of California, Riverside, identified the early origins of neural crest cells -- embryonic cells in vertebrates that travel throughout the body and generate many cell types -- in chick embryos.

18 Nov 2020

Consumption of teff grain boosts the composition, function of stomach microbiome

The seeds of a teff plant - which look similar to wheat - are tiny in stature, but they pack a nutritional wallop.

16 Nov 2020

Study: Photoresponsive derivatives of Taxol allow light-based control of microtubule cytoskeleton

Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet (LMU) in Munich researchers have developed photoresponsive derivatives of the anticancer drug Taxol, which allow light-based control of cytoskeleton dynamics in neurons. The agents can optically pattern cell division and may elucidate how Taxol acts.

9 Nov 2020

UConn researcher identifies genes and regulatory elements critical to heart development

The advent of genome science has given researchers an unprecedented ability to understand the root causes of a host of conditions.

3 Nov 2020

Study reveals how loss of protein arginine methyltransferase affects proper brain development

Normal brain development requires a precise interplay between neuronal and non-neuronal (also called glial) cells.

24 Sep 2020

Study provides new insight into the evolution of limb regeneration in lungfish and other species

For most vertebrates, losing a limb is permanent, but a lucky few species -- such as salamanders and tadpoles -- have the ability to completely regrow complex body parts.

17 Sep 2020

Researchers develop 3D functional heart organoids from mouse embryonic stem cells

Heart development as it happens in vivo, or in a living organism, is a complex process that has traditionally been difficult to mimic in vitro, or in the laboratory.

16 Sep 2020

Number of tentacles in sea anemones is defined by amount of food consumed

Your genetic code determines that you will grow two arms and two legs. The same fate is true for all mammals. Similarly, the number of fins a fish has and the number of legs and wings an insect has are embedded in their genetic code.

2 Sep 2020

Online health technology can close the gap on racial disparities

New research from Boston Medical Center highlights the benefits of using health technology to engage African American and Black women earlier in preconception care in an effort to close the gap on racial disparities in birth outcomes and maternal mortality.

26 Aug 2020

Scientists create miniature human heart model in the lab

A team of researchers from Michigan State University has created a miniature human heart model in the laboratory. For the first time in history, this mode is complete with all primary heart cell types and a functioning structure of chambers and vascular tissue.

19 Aug 2020

Genes on the X chromosome may be key to melanoma survival advantage in females

Centenary Institute scientists have discovered that genes on the X chromosome may be key to the improved survival rates of females with melanoma–as compared to their male counterparts.

13 Aug 2020

Study sheds new light on mechanisms of cohesin function involved in cancer and cardiac development

Ana Losada, from the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO), is the scientist who identified cohesin in vertebrates, a protein that is essential in cell division.

12 Aug 2020

Miscarriage risk increases with each additional week of alcohol exposure in early pregnancy

Each week a woman consumes alcohol during the first five to 10 weeks of pregnancy is associated with an incremental 8% increase in risk of miscarriage, according to a study by Vanderbilt University Medical Center researchers.

10 Aug 2020

Study reveals the genetic cause of congenital malformation

Study by the University of Bonn reveals that genetic information controls development of the urinary tract, rectum and genitals Spontaneous mutations of a single gene are likely to cause serious developmental disorders of the excretory organs and genitalia.

7 Aug 2020

4D OCT can provide unprecedented information about embryonic heart development

How a valveless embryonic heart tube pumps blood is a long-standing scientific mystery. Thanks to innovations in light-based technology, fresh insights are now available into the biomechanics of mammalian cardiogenesis-;and in particular, the pumping dynamics of the mammalian tubular embryonic heart.

7 Aug 2020

Study shows how regulatory mechanisms contribute to formation of tissues in mouse embryo

A research team at the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics in Berlin has explored the role of factors in embryonic development that do not alter the sequence of DNA, but only epigenetically modify its "packaging"

5 Aug 2020

Continuous survival of neurons is intrinsically programmed during development

When our neurons -- the principle cells of the brain -- die, so do we.Most neurons are created during embryonic development and have no "backup" after birth. Researchers have generally believed that their survival is determined nearly extrinsically, or by outside forces, such as the tissues and cells that neurons supply with nerve cells.

25 Jul 2020

Researchers use optogenetics to activate and inactivate signaling pathways

Proper embryonic development of the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster is governed by patterns of protein activity bequeathed to the fertilized egg by its mother.

24 Jul 2020

New model may explain why certain cancer cells are resistant to therapy

Cancer's knack for developing resistance to chemotherapy has long been a major obstacle to achieving lasting remissions or cures.