First division of the embryo

2001/11/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Biologia

Although all cells in the body have the same genetic information, they specialize and each one fulfills its functions. However, embryo cells are totipotent and have the ability to develop any cell of the body.

However, in the study carried out with mice by several researchers, it has been observed that in the embryo the purpose of each cell is decided faster than expected. When the mouse embryo had only two cells, they were marked with a different colored fluorescent probe by Richard Gardner and his co-workers at the University of Oxford to know which parts of the body form each cell. As seen, they follow a totally different path.

One forms what will be the body of the embryo, such as bone, nerve and blood cells, while the other forms a part of the lime that will feed the embryo. However, if at some initial time a cell was damaged, it would be replaced by another embryo cell, which is still totipotent.

The identification of the molecular signals that cause totipotency in cells would allow the transformation of older cells and tissues, which would allow the healing of the affected organs.