All articles tagged with #embryology
New research shows that growing tissues crack and reform through controlled, constructive fractures that sculpt embryos and organs—fluid-driven fractures between cells form cavities in mouse zygotes to create the blastocyst, fracture-guided formation of zebrafish heart trabeculae, and similar cracking patterns in elephant skin—revealing physics as a fundamental driver of development and evolution.
Using the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility's powerful X‑rays, researchers scanned a six‑egg clutch of Massospondylus carinatus embryos from 200‑million‑year‑old eggs found in South Africa, revealing tiny skulls and two distinct tooth generations—one temporary and shed before hatching, the other adult‑like—along with skeletal development consistent with two‑legged hatchlings and reptile–bird similarities.
Researchers studying sea anemones (cnidarians) show they use bilaterian-like bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) shuttling to set body axes, suggesting this developmental mechanism predates the cnidarian–bilaterian split 600–700 million years ago and may reflect an ancient shared blueprint for animal body plans.
This week in science news, a giant alligator weighing 920 pounds and measuring 30 feet in length was caught in Florida, while an asteroid called Dimorphos is behaving unexpectedly after being intentionally hit by a rocket during a NASA mission. Other highlights include the discovery of a gene variant that may guard against Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, the growth of human kidneys inside pig embryos, and the unveiling of mysterious "alien" bodies in Mexico's congress. In archaeology, a 4,000-year-old Canaanite arch in Israel and 7,000-year-old animal bones in Arabia were found, and divers recovered a U.S. airman's remains from a WWII bomber wreck near Malta. Additionally, the mysterious henon bamboo that flowers once every 120 years baffles scientists.