All vertebrate embryos follow a common developmental path due to their common ancestry. All have a set of very similar genes (the homeobox genes) that define their basic body plan. As they grow, the ...

Researchers have discovered and characterized a DNA sequence found in jawed vertebrates, such as sharks and humans, but absent in jawless vertebrates, such as lampreys. This DNA is important for the ...

A breakthrough in genetics reveals how spines first appeared, changing what we know about the evolution of complex species.

“A central question has been: How do thousands of genes work together in an embryo, and how is their activity linked to the movement of cells?” says first author Yinan Wan. To answer this question, ...

For the first time, a stem cell model has produced a structure resembling an early human embryo with a yolk-sac-like structure, from a single starting stem cell population and without direct genetic ...

Scientists have long observed that embryos of different species within a phylum look quite distinct at early and late developmental stages but resemble one another more during mid-embryogenesis, a ...

The experimental analysis of chick limb bud development / J.W. Saunders Jr. -- In-vitro analysis of the distribution and nature of a morphogenetic factor in the developing chick wing / J.A. MacCabe, A ...

Lacking bones, brains, and even a complete gut, the body plans of simple animals like sea anemones appear to have little in common with humans and their vertebrate kin. Nevertheless, new research ...