Nature Communications (May 2018)

Tracing the origin of heterogeneity and symmetry breaking in the early mammalian embryo

  • Qi Chen,
  • Junchao Shi,
  • Yi Tao,
  • Magdalena Zernicka-Goetz

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-04155-2
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 9, no. 1
pp. 1 – 11

Abstract

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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.