Nature Communications (May 2018)
Tracing the origin of heterogeneity and symmetry breaking in the early mammalian embryo
Abstract
What breaks symmetry in early mammalian embryonic development has been much questioned. Here, Magdalena Zernicka-Goetz and colleagues propose that compartmentalized intracellular reactions generate micro-scale inhomogeneity, which is amplified in the developing embryo, driving pattern formation.