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.

Towards A Better Understanding of Early Human Embryonic Development

Despite being an essential developmental process, the understanding of human embryonic genome activation is limited, owing to the lack of in vitro cell models and ethical concerns.

22 Sep 2023

Case Western Reserve Biochemists Find New Approach to Stop Cancer Growth

Case Western Reserve University biochemical researchers have identified a new function of a key protein that leads to cancer–a finding they believe could lead to more effective treatments for a range of cancers and other diseases.

1 Sep 2023

NSL Complex Regulates Intraciliary Transport Genes in Multiple Cell Types

The non-specific lethal (NSL) complex is a chromatin-associated factor that has been shown in both fruit flies and mammals to regulate the expression of thousands of genes. Abrogation of the NSL genes causes the organism to die, which gives rise to the complex’s unusual name.

28 Aug 2023

Analyzing DNA Damage-Induced NF-κB Targeted by Novel Small Molecule Inhibitors

Chemotherapy and radiotherapy aim to destroy cancer cells by inducing DNA double-strand breaks – damage that, once inflicted, usually causes the cells to die. But damage to a cell's genetic material also activates a signaling pathway called IKK/NF-κB that helps prevent cell death, thus limiting the success of these treatments in patients.

28 Jul 2023

Review: Role of Alternative Splicing Defects in Major Neurodegenerative Diseases

Alternative splicing, a clever way a cell generates many different variations of messenger RNAs -; single-stranded RNAs involved in protein synthesis -; and proteins from the same stretch of DNA, plays an important role in molecular biology.

21 Jun 2023

iPSC-Based Model System Helps Study Lung-Specific Mesenchyme

Lung mesenchymal cells, which are crucial components of the lung’s distinctive structure, also play a significant role in disease and injury recovery, but research into their biology and how they start disorders like pulmonary fibrosis is limited.

14 Jun 2023

Study Sheds Light on the Genetic Basis for Body Plan Development in the Starlet Sea Anemone

Lacking bones, brains, and even a complete gut, the body plans of simple animals like sea anemones appear to have little in common with humans and their vertebrate kin.

14 Jun 2023

Characterizing a Pivotal Time in Mammalian Embryonic Development

Many of life’s secrets are hidden in the initial stages of embryonic development. Unraveling these mysteries can aid in the understanding of early development and birth abnormalities, as well as the creation of innovative regenerative medicine treatments.

31 May 2023

Research Helps Better Understand How Developing Cells Break Free From Their Tissue of Origin

Cancer's ability to spread throughout the body -; a process known as metastasis -; is responsible for the vast majority of cancer deaths.

11 May 2023

Experimental Model Sheds Light on Key Cellular Processes Involved in Embryogenesis

Many birth defects and spontaneous abortions occur during the embryonic development stage known as neurulation, yet we have very little insight into how this critical developmental process unfolds in humans.

9 May 2023

Generating the Landscape of m6A in a Mouse Embryo

RNA, particularly mRNA, has recently received some attention as the major component of the COVID-19 vaccines.

26 Apr 2023

New Embryonic Brain Circuit Offers New Insights on Circuit Abnormalities in Autism

Researchers have discovered an active multi-layer circuit that emerges in the cortex at an unexpectedly early stage of development using a new method for analyzing live embryonic mouse brains at single-cell resolution.

18 Apr 2023

Generation of Monkey Blastoids Using Optimized Protocol

Human embryo development and early organ development remain unclear due to ethical concerns about using embryos for research and a scarcity of materials to investigate.

7 Apr 2023

The proper implementation of stem cell-based disease models

Scientists have learned how to manufacture induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) from regular cells through genetic reprogramming during the last ten years.

29 Mar 2023

Researchers find methods to awaken and revive neural stem cells

Some areas of the adult brain contain quiescent, or dormant, neural stem cells that can potentially be reactivated to form new neurons. However, the transition from quiescence to proliferation is still poorly understood. A team led by scientists from the Universities of Geneva (UNIGE) and Lausanne (UNIL) has discovered the importance of cell metabolism in this process and identified how to wake up these neural stem cells and reactivate them. Biologists succeeded in increasing the number of new neurons in the brain of adult and even elderly mice. These results, promising for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, are to be discovered in the journal Science Advances.

2 Mar 2023

New software helps identify genes that play vital roles in the development

Computer software developed at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis can predict what happens to complex gene networks when individual genes are missing or dialed up more than usual.

14 Feb 2023

A soybean genome in pan-3D

For cis-regulatory elements in the genome to function, which is crucial for gene regulation, a high-order chromatin structure is required. Three-dimensional (3D) genome organization in eukaryotes exhibits a hierarchical structure.

8 Feb 2023

“Reference Epigenome” and regulatory mechanisms in wheat embryogenesis

One of the most basic and amazing processes that occur in both plants and animals is embryogenesis. It is incredible that, within a matter of weeks after fertilization, a single mother egg cell can transform into a living thing with a complex body structure.

6 Feb 2023

Enhancing the efficacy of CRISPR/Cas9 and related methods

The effectiveness of molecular genetic techniques like CRISPR/Cas9 and related systems has been significantly improved, and their range of applications has been expanded, by researchers from the Department of Developmental Biology/Physiology at the Centre for Organismal Studies of Heidelberg University.

26 Jan 2023

The detrimental effects of alcohol consumption during pregnancy

For the first time, researchers at the University of Helsinki in Finland examined the effects of prenatal alcohol exposure on the epigenome and gene function of the placenta. The epigenome is a molecular coating on a DNA strand that controls how genes are expressed.

4 Jan 2023