‘Starry starry night’ by Francine Ke, Molecular Genetics of Cancer division
While it may look like a scene from a sci-fi movie in space, these “stars” are actually a cell in an embryo. The brightly stained cells are dying, a process called apoptosis, while the dark blue cells are still alive.
“My research focuses on understanding the interplay between apoptosis and embryonic development, and how a lack of cell death or too much cell death can lead to physical abnormalities,” said Ke.
“For instance, do you know that our fingers and toes first develop as webs, and apoptosis subsequently occurs to give us individual digits? On a similar note, defects such as spina bifida and cleft palate are also caused by disrupting the fine balance between cell survival and death. It is important to learn about these processes so that we can help decrease the occurrence of such abnormalities in future.”
