The stem cells formed a sac that then folded in half a couple days later (see image above, courtesy of Nature), forming the optic cup.
What’s the News: Give a blob of cells the right environment—lots of nutrients, special chemical signals, and a comfy gel cushion—and they just might grow you a body part. In a feat of bioengineering, scientists at the RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology in Japan have grown a retina from mouse embryonic stem cells. Remarkably, much of the development happened spontaneously, indicating that even undifferentiated cells have a blueprint in mind. Researchers hope the work will someday yield transplantable retinas for people with diseases like retinitis pigmentosa
. "When I received the manuscript, I was stunned, I really was,” commented human molecular geneticist Robin Ali (via Nature News
). “I never though I'd see the day where you have recapitulation of development in a dish." How ...
