Genome complexity: in embryology (Introduction)

by David Turell , Thursday, March 24, 2016, 22:21 (3166 days ago) @ David Turell

By the time the embryo is only four cells old, the cells are differentiating:-https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/03/160324142932.htm-"Once an egg has been fertilised by a sperm, it divides several times, becoming a large free-floating ball of stem cells. At first, these stem cells are 'totipotent', the state at which a stem cell can divide and grow and produce everything--every single cell of the whole body and the placenta, to attach the embryo to the mother's womb. The stem cells then change to a 'pluripotent' state, in which their development is restricted to generating the cells of the whole body, but not the placenta. However, the point during development at which cells begin to show a preference for becoming a specific cell type is unclear.-"Now, in a study published in the journal Cell, scientists at the University of Cambridge and the European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI) suggests that as early as the four-cell embryo stage, the cells are indeed different.-***-"They showed that some genes in each of the four cells behaved differently. The activity of one gene in particular, Sox21, differed the most between cells; this gene forms part of the 'pluripotency network'. The team found when this gene's activity was reduced, the activity of a master regulator that directs cells to develop into the placenta increased.-***-"'We now know that even as early as the four-stage embryo - just two days after fertilisation - the embryo is being guided in a particular direction and its cells are no longer identical.'"-Comment: Genes turn on and off in embryology to create proper form under a master plan in the DNA, so they are not just making proteins. The activity has to be automatic to create the necessary result. Mistakes can make terrible anomalies.