Fossil embryos reveal ancient divisions
Cosmos
Oct. 16
Evidence of cell differentiation has been found in fossil embryos more than 550 million years old, offering insights into the formation of ancient embryos, according to a new international study.
"We're learning something about how the very earliest multicellular animal formed embryos and how the embryos developed," said coauthor Rudolf Raff, of both Indiana University in the U.S. and the University of Sydney in Australia.
"This gives us an enormous and entirely surprising look at half-a-billion-year-old embryos in the act of cleaving. What a window on the past; we've had no prior idea what they might have done," he said.
A team of 15 scientists from 5 countries were involved in the study, which is published this week in the U.S. journal Science.
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