Developmental biology

We give our genes and our environment all the credit for making us who we are. But random noise during development might be just as important.

Don’t be misled by the bloodthirsty names of immune cells. Mounting research shows that the cells also fine-tune tissues and help the body heal.

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.

Neuroscience has found that gestures are not merely important as tools of expression but as guides of cognition and perception.

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.