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Collaborations in progress between ethicists and biologists seek to head off challenges raised by lab-grown “organoids” as they become increasingly similar to human brain tissue.
Modeling suggests that many embryonic cells commit to a developmental fate when they become too small to divide unevenly anymore.
Mitochondria are most famous as sources of metabolic energy. But by splitting and combining, they can also release chemical signals to regulate cell activities, including the generation of neurons.
During development, cells seem to decode their fate through optimal information processing, which could hint at a more general principle of life.
Jennifer Doudna, one of CRISPR’s primary innovators, stays optimistic about how the gene-editing tool will continue to empower basic biological understanding.
Jellyfish didn’t need novel genes to take an evolutionary leap in complexity.
A primordial developmental toolkit shared by all vertebrates, and described by a theory of the mathematician Alan Turing, sets the growth pattern for all types of skin structures.
Stem cells seem to retain memories of old injuries to improve future healing. When that system goes wrong, chronic inflammation can result.
Renee Reijo Pera has spent decades uncovering how the timing of embryonic development contributes to health and disease.