Hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs) are multipotent precursors that have the self-renewal capacity and continuously replenish all mature blood cells throughout the life span. In zebrafish ...

The origin of the vertebrate skull is a topic of much debate among evolutionary biologists. Some believe that the vertebrate head has developed as a result of modification of the segmental elements of ...

Researchers led by Kyoto University have reconstituted the human 'segmentation clock' -- a key focus of embryonic development research -- using induced pluripotent stem cells, iPSCs. From the first ...

How are the body’s segments formed? The body of a vertebrate organism consists of segmented axes, which is most distinct in the skeleton. The process of somitogenesis is key to the development of ...

Figure 1: A fluorescence image of an induced presomitic mesoderm (iPSM) tissue model, where cells expressing the Hes7 gene—a key regulator of somite formation—are labeled green. Purple cells express a ...

Adding just the right mixture of signaling molecules—proteins involved in development—to human stem cells can coax them to resemble somites, which are groups of cells that give rise to skeletal ...

Vertebrates have a pretty diverse array of body plans, and one of the reasons for this is some evolutionary flexibility in the length of their primary body axis, the one that runs from head to tail.

The spinal column is the central supporting structure of the skeleton in all vertebrates. Not only does it provide a place for muscles to attach, it also protects the spinal cord and nerve roots.

New stem cell-based embryo model reveals previously unknown communication between early tissues that become the spine and muscles in the central part of the body. From the moment an embryo starts to ...

Scientists have investigated lamprey embryos using cutting-edge microscopic techniques to reveal interesting insights about vertebrate head evolution, clarifying an unresolved mystery in basic science ...

Researchers used iPS cells to reconstructed the human 'segmentation clock,' a key point in early embryonic development that determines how the body gets segmented. The 'segmentation clock' is a ...