Understanding early development in mammalian embryos is essential to advance reproductive medicine. A European research team created the necessary theoretical framework to realise this.
Early steps of embryogenesis involve a self-organised succession of cell divisions, deformations and rearrangements, leading to the formation of two distinct cell lineages segregated into inside and outside layers. A precise 4-dimensional imaging of the early embryos could reveal intense surface dynamics.
Further details: Quantitative simulation of the developing embryo