s cells types in the early ze▓brafish embryo.RECIPE FOR CELL MAKINGThe analyses were unprecedented in revealing in▓ comprehensive de
tail the cascades of events that take cells from early progenitor or "generalist" states to more specialized states with narrowly defin▓ed functions.The teams identified otherwise difficult-to-detect details such as rare cell types and subtypes and linked new and highly specific gene expression patterns to different cell lineag
es. In▓ several cases, they found cell types emerging far earlier than previously thought.For scientists hoping to manipulate stem cells toward specific fates with the goal of replacing defective cells▓, tissues or organs with functional ones, the newly details about the sequence of gene expression changes that precipitate the emergence of specific cell types can propel these efforts further."With these datasets, if someone wants to make a ▓specific cell type, they now have the recipe for the steps that those cells took as they formed in the embryo," said Allon Klein, assistant professor of systems biology and co-corresponding author of two of the three studies."We've in some sense established a gold standard refe▓rence for how complex differentiation processes actually progress in embryos, and set an example for how to systematically reconstruct these types of proc▓esses," Klein said.NEW FINDINGSKlein's team used the CRISPR/Cas9 ge▓ne editing system to create zebrafish with a mutant form of chordin, a gene involved in determining the back-to-front orientation of a developing embryo.Schier's team took a similar approach by profiling zebrafis▓h with a mutation in a different patterning gene known as one-eyed pinhead.When analyzed
ilds an entire org
