Audio long-read: Push, pull and squeeze – the hidden forces that shape life
Nature Podcast
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Embryos Brake Synchronicity
Early mouse embryo develops a large fluid filled cavity called the lumin. As this cavity fills, the cells that will become the foetus are pushed together on one side. This first symmetry breaking event insures that the embryo implants into the uterine wall correctly. It also governs which side the embryo will become the back and which the belly. But it wasn't clear how the embryo creates and positions the lumine. When they imaged the process in detail, metra's team found something unexpected. We saw these little bubbles, these little water pockets, forming between the cells. Says med, they are transient. You just miss them if you don't image fast enough.
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