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Study reveals the genetic startup of a human embryo

(mailto:?

An international team of scientists led from Swedens

Karolinska Institutet has for
subject=Study
the rst time mapped all the genes that are activated in the rst few days of a
reveals

fertilized human egg. The study, which is being published in the journal Nature
the

Communications, provides an in-depth understanding of early embryonic

genetic

development in human and scientists now hope that the results will help nding
for example new therapies against infertility. startup
of
a
human
embryo&body=http://bioengineer.org/study-

revealsgeneticstartuphumanembryo/)

(http://bioengineer.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/mit.jpg)

At the start of an individuals life there is a single fertilized egg cell. One day after
fertilization there are two cells, after two days four, after three days eight and so on, until
there are billions of cells at birth. The order in which our genes are activated after
fertilization has remained one of the last uncharted territories of human development.

At the start of an individuals life there is a single fertilized egg cell. One day after fertilization
there are two cells, after two days four, after three days eight and so on, until there are billions of
cells at birth. The order in which our genes are activated after fertilization has remained one of
the last uncharted territories of human development.
There are approximately 23,000 human genes in total. In the current study, scientists found that
only 32 of these genes are switched on two days after fertilization, and by day three there are 129
activated genes. Seven of the genes found and characterized had not been discovered previously.
These genes are the ignition key that is needed to turn on human embryonic development. It is
like dropping a stone into water and then watching the waves spread across the surface, says
principal investigator Juha Kere, professor at the Department of Bio-sciences and Nutrition at
Karolinska Institutet and also af liated to the SciLifeLab facility.
The researchers had to develop a new way of analyzing the results in order to nd the new
HOMEMost
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there
NEWSare
a number
EXPLORE

genes.
genes code for proteins but
of repeated
DNA sequences that are

often considered to be so-called junk DNA, but are in fact important in regulating gene
BLOG (HTTP://BIOENGINEER.ORG/CATEGORY/BLOG/)
identi ed genes can
expression.
In the current study, the researchers show COMMUNITY
that the newly

interact with the junk DNA, and that this is essential to the start of development.

Our
results provide novel insights into the regulation of early embryonic development
CONTACT US (HTTP://BIOENGINEER.ORG/CONTACT-US/)
in

human. We identi ed novel factors that might be used in reprogramming cells into so-called

pluripotent stem cells for possible treatment of a range of diseases, and potentially also
() in the
(HTTP://BIOENG
treatment of infertility, says Outi Hovatta, professor at Karolinska Institutets Department of
Clinical Science, Intervention and Technology, and a senior author.

PERFORM-

Story Source:

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The above post is reprinted from materials provided by Karolinska Institutet.

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