Periodic Reporting for period 2 - CollectiveDynamics (Collective signaling oscillations in embryonic patterning – revealing underlying principles)
Período documentado: 2022-03-01 hasta 2023-08-31
Our research addresses the fundamental question of how biological rhythms and oscillatory signals control embryonic development. We study this question in particular in the context of the segmentation clock, which controls the periodic formation of somites, the pre-vertebrae, during development. In this context, cells establish collective synchrony and spatiotemporal wave patterns that sweep across the embryo's body axis. Understanding the origin, the basic underlying rules and the function of internal biological rhythms is of key relevance, especially when considering how developing systems integrate their dynamic environment.
Why is it important for society?
This fundamental research aims to shed new light on the role of signaling dynamics in developmental systems. As the signaling pathways we study are ubiquitously employed in development and in disease states, this research has the potential to impact future understanding of, for instance, the causes of cancer.
Second, we have made significant progress in establishing a novel model system to study the segmentation clock using the Japanese rice fish Medaka. This included the establishment of a novel, highly efficient CRISPR-based method to modify the Medaka genome (Seleit et al., 2021). With this newly established model system, we are now able to move into very intriguing research directions that address how internal biological rhythms integrate external, environmental cues and rhythms