From egg to organism

Abstract

The embryo is a remarkable self-assembly machine. From a single cell, the fertilized egg, arises all of the differentiated cell types of the body. Embryos unfold in an elegantly choreographed manner that we strive to understand by observing the process, dissecting it into smaller bits, and mucking up the works by expressing too much or too little of some protein. Yet the mystery remains and, as knowledge and technology advance, we understand more about the depth of its complexity than about the process itself.

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