Deciphering Early Mammalian Development Using Stem Cell-Based Models
Event Details
- Type
- Friday Lecture Series
- Speaker(s)
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Magdalena Żernicka-Goetz, Ph.D., Bren Professor of Biology and Biological Engineering, California Institute of Technology
- Speaker bio(s)
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Stem cell–based embryo models provide a powerful window into the self-organization principles that shape early development. This talk explores building these processes from the bottom up, beginning with simple models that mimic specific regions or lineages and advancing toward integrated systems that capture whole-embryo complexity. Using mouse and human platforms, Dr. Zernicka-Goetz shows how these models reveal stages inaccessible in natural embryos, illuminating how cells communicate, coordinate, and compete to form tissues and body plans. She will highlight unexpected self-regulatory capacities and emergent behaviors driving symmetry breaking, pattern formation, and lineage specification. Together, these findings uncover conserved strategies and species-specific differences in early development.
Magdalena Zernicka-Goetz is the Bren Professor of Biology and Biological Engineering at the California Institute of Technology. A leading developmental biologist, she completed postdoctoral training at the University of Cambridge with Nobel Laureates Martin Evans and John Gurdon. Her research has redefined the understanding of early mammalian development, revealing cellular heterogeneity in the early embryo, the role of epigenetic mechanisms in cell fate determination, and the processes by which aneuploid cells are selectively eliminated. Her lab was the first to establish a culture system that supports human embryo development beyond implantation up to the legal 14-day limit, and pioneered development of stem cell-based embryo models.
- Open to
- Tri-Institutional