Research report 2020 - Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics

Trunk development in a dish

Authors
Herrmann, Bernhard G.; Veenvliet, Jesse V.
Departments
Abteilungen Entwicklungsgenetik und Genomregulation
Summary
The ontogeny of a complex organism from a single cell demands a high level of self-organization of stem cells and their descendants. The current 2-D model of cell differentiation in culture does not support the formation of embryo-like structures. By using a new 3-D culture system we were able to show that embryonic stem cells of the mouse are indeed able to form trunk-like structures comprising primordia of the spinal cord, cartilage, bone, and skeletal muscle in a culture dish. Our method strengthens a new field of research: Synthetic Embryology.

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