Tag: Embryology
-
UK £3.5 Million Grant to Unravel How Cells Talk in Development
A Major Grant to Decode Cellular Conversation A landmark seven-year study has been funded with a £3.5 million Wellcome Discovery Award to investigate how cells exchange information to coordinate the formation of tissues and organs. Researchers at the Living Systems Institute (LSI) at the University of Exeter will lead this ambitious project, aiming to delineate…
-
Lab-grown embryo models mimic natural formation of blood and heart cells
Overview: A window into early human development Scientists at the University of Cambridge have engineered three‑dimensional, embryo‑like structures from human stem cells that replicate key features of very early human development. These structures, named hematoids, self‑organize to form tissues and, notably, produce blood stem cells, offering a promising platform to study how the human body…
-
Lab-Grown Embryo Models Produce Blood Cells: A Leap for Regenerative Medicine
Overview: A Breakthrough in Lab-Grown Embryo Models Scientists have created embryo-like structures in the lab using stem cells that can generate human blood cells. This milestone marks a significant step in regenerative medicine by showing that blood stem cells can arise from a controlled, embryo-friendly developmental process outside the womb. The achievement suggests new pathways…
-
Ancient Viral DNA as a Key to Our First Moments of Life
Uncovering a Hidden Architect of Early Life Fragments of ancient viral DNA may have played an outsized role in the earliest stages of human life. In a study that blends evolution, virology and developmental biology, researchers have shown that remnants of endogenous retroviruses in our genome—specifically a group called LTR5Hs—can act as regulatory switches essential…
-
Telomere Inheritance: How Telomere Length Is Passed Down and Why It Matters
Telomeres: The Protective Caps at the End of Chromosomes Telomeres are the protective caps that protect our genetic information, much like aglets guard shoelaces from fraying. Each time a cell divides, these caps shorten a little. When they become critically short, a cell stops dividing in a state called cellular senescence, a process linked to…
-
Mitomeiosis: Creating human eggs from skin cells—a breakthrough in infertility
Breakthrough: mitomeiosis creates eggs from skin cells A US team has published a pioneering study describing a proof‑of‑concept approach that could one day allow infertile people to have biological children. Using a technique dubbed mitomeiosis, researchers turned DNA taken from a skin cell into a functional human egg, which was subsequently fertilised with sperm in…
-
Mitomeiosis: Scientists Create Human Eggs From Skin Cells
Overview: a bold step in reproductive science A team of researchers in the United States has reported a proof-of-concept technique they call mitomeiosis. The approach takes DNA from a skin cell and, through a novel manipulation of cell division, creates a functional human egg that can be fertilised with sperm in the lab. In early…
-
Why Some Embryos Stall in Development: Centromere Clues from a New Study
Centromeres: The gatekeepers of early cell division Early embryo development hinges on a flawless handoff of parental DNA, a process that begins even before the first cell division. At the heart of this handoff are centromeres, special chromosome regions that act like handles during chromosome segregation. A key feature that marks these regions across generations…