VII. Our Earthuman Ascent: A Major Evolutionary Transition in Individuality

1. Systems Physiology and Psychology: Somatic and Behavioral Development

Zhu, Meng and Magdalena Zernicka-Goetz. Principles of Self-Organization of the Mammalian Embryo. Cell. 183/6, 2020. Cambridge University developmental physiologists report their latest findings which could be seen as well indicative of a 21st century scientific revolution to view life’s morphogenesis as due to this dynamic, Turing-like mathematical generation. See also from M Z-G’s lab Self-organization of Stem Cells into Embryos by Marta Shahbazi, et al in Science (364/948, 2019, herein), and The Dance of Life: The New Science of How a Single Cell becomes a Human Being. by and M. Zernicka-Goetz and Roger Highfield. (Basic Books, 2020).

Early embryogenesis is a conserved and self-organized process. In the mammalian embryo, the potential for self-organization is manifested in its extraordinary developmental plasticity, allowing a correctly patterned embryo to arise despite experimental perturbation. The underlying mechanisms enabling such regulative development have long been a topic of study. In this Review, we summarize our current understanding of the self-organizing principles behind the regulative nature of the early mammalian embryo. We argue that geometrical constraints, feedback between mechanical and biochemical factors, and cellular heterogeneity are all required to ensure the developmental plasticity of mammalian embryo development. (Abstract)

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