Egg to organism: Visualizing the concepts of development
Speaker: Benny Shilo , Weizmann Institute
Date: May 30 2012
Time: 12:00PM to 1:00PM
Location: Hewlett Room, 32-G882, Stata Center, MIT
Host: Silvio Micali, CIS, TOC, CSAIL, MIT
Contact: Be Blackburn, 3-6098, imbe@mit.edu
Relevant URL: Cells descending from a fertilized egg, all harbor the same genetic
information, and give rise to a fully developed embryo through a
finely orchestrated process termed embryogenesis. The Mature embryo
contains thousands of differentiated cell types comprising all its
tissues.
How does genetic information govern pattern formation? Cell fate is
not pre-determined. Each cell is capable of differentiating in
multiple directions. Interactions between cells determine the pattern,
and are governed by rules provided by the genome of each cell.
Surprisingly, not only the rules, but also the molecules that mediate
this communication, are conserved among all multi-cellular organisms,
from flies and worms to humans. Understanding the universal language
and concepts of cell communication is at the heart of developmental
biology.
This project presents developmental biology’s major paradigms, by
providing metaphors from our human world to the interactions between
cells during development. Hopefully, you as viewers will have the
opportunity to “feel” like cells in a developing embryo, and use your
own experiences to bolster understanding of these exciting scientific
discoveries.
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