Two cell embryo There are many unknown elements for what triggers the cells in an embryo to start dividing and multiplying and becoming every single cell in the body. Now researchers at the Gladstone Institutes in San Francisco have uncovered one of those elements, how embryos determine which cells become the head and which the … Continue reading Heads or tails? Stem cells help guide the decision
development
An inside look reveals the adult brain prunes its own branches
Did you know that when you’re born, your brain contains around 100 billion nerve cells? This is impressive considering that these nerve cells, also called neurons, are already connected to each other through an intricate, complex neural network that is essential for brain function. Here’s how the brain does it. During development, neural stem cells … Continue reading An inside look reveals the adult brain prunes its own branches
A cardiac love triangle: how transcription factors interact to make a heart
Here’s a heartfelt science story for all those Valentine’s day fans out there. Scientists from the Gladstone Institutes have identified how a group of transcription factors interact during embryonic development to make a healthy heart. Their work will increase our biological understanding of how the heart is formed and could produce new methods for treating … Continue reading A cardiac love triangle: how transcription factors interact to make a heart
UCLA Scientists Find 3000 New Genes in “Junk DNA” of Immune Stem Cells
Genes and Junk Do you remember learning about Junk DNA when you took Biology in high school? The term was used to described 98% of the human genome that doesn’t make up its approximately 22,000 genes. We used to think that Junk DNA didn’t serve a purpose, but that was before we discovered special elements … Continue reading UCLA Scientists Find 3000 New Genes in “Junk DNA” of Immune Stem Cells
A Glimpse Inside the Cellular Universe: Scientists Track the Growth of an Organism, One Cell at a Time
Trying to keep tabs on how an organism grows from a single fertilized egg into an embryo, cell by cell, is hard work. So hard in fact, that no one’s quite figured out how to do it. The problem, as researchers have lamented, is that there’s just too much happening—all at the same time—for the … Continue reading A Glimpse Inside the Cellular Universe: Scientists Track the Growth of an Organism, One Cell at a Time
Confining Cells within Geometric Structures Key to Replicating Embryonic Development
It’s like trying to capture, and then recreate, a moment in time: the exact instant after fertilization when a small group of dividing cells begin to organize themselves into the various cellular layers that will one day make up the skin, the heart, the liver and the brain. But for all the advances in our … Continue reading Confining Cells within Geometric Structures Key to Replicating Embryonic Development
Confining Cells within Geometric Structures Key to Replicating Embryonic Development
It’s like trying to capture, and then recreate, a moment in time: the exact instant after fertilization when a small group of dividing cells begin to organize themselves into the various cellular layers that will one day make up the skin, the heart, the liver and the brain. But for all the advances in our … Continue reading Confining Cells within Geometric Structures Key to Replicating Embryonic Development
The Stem Cellar 