Many congenital diseases have their origins in early embryonic development. Gastrulation is a particularly critical event that occurs shortly after implantation, when the different embryonic germ layers are specified in ectoderm, endoderm and mesoderm, and where the 3D body plan of the embryo is laid out. However, we know almost nothing about these processes during early human development, due to both ethical and practical limitations.

  • Recent research has demonstrated that, embryonic stem cells (ESCs) can self-organize to form 3D structures resembling gastrulation stage embryos. These ‘gastruloids’ form the 3 germ layers, as well as the body axes, recapitulating many of the spatial cues and 3D organization of the early developing embryo. However, anterior structures like the brain are not formed.
  • Murine gastruloids form somites containing muscle progenitors and we are using murine and human gastruloids to study early muscle development.
  • Knowledge of this will shed light on normal and abnormal development of skeletal muscle and shed light on the mechanisms underlying skeletal muscle disorders.
Embryonic Development

We study embryonal development and muscle progenitors in a model system for development.

SKELETAL MUSCLE

SKELETAL
MUSCLE

GENOME EDITING & PROTEIN ENGINEERING

GENOME EDITING &
PROTEIN ENGINEERING