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Push and pull: how to measure the forces that sculpt embryos

A steadily growing toolbox is giving researchers the ability to monitor and measure the physical forces that shape embryonic development.
  1. Michael Eisenstein

    1. Michael Eisenstein is a freelance writer based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

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Micrograph of a mouse embryo at the blastocyst stage in which the nuclear envelope and cell boundaries are highlighted in bright colours

Mouse embryos start out as a relatively simple ball of cells. Credit: Manon Lesage and Jean-Léon Maître

Embryonic development is like an elaborate stage production, in which meticulously choreographed gene-expression programmes organize much of the action. But changes in physical forces such as tension and mechanical properties like elasticity also play a part, coordinating the process’s spatial and temporal footwork.

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Nature 630, 780-782 (2024)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-024-02029-w

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