The Development of the Human Body

Growing brains in a dish, or minibrains, as we like to call them, is an amazing new method, which allows us to track the development of human and other species’ brains as never before. How do we make these brains grow, and what are the questions we would like to answer using them? Can these brains feel and think? Is the method dangerous from an ethical point of view? Come and find out about our work on brain development and evolution and enjoy a pint of beer with it.

During early development, the human embryo undergoes a transition where
cells become specialised and are orientated to be the building blocks of
the future body. Epigenetic processes that control gene activity have
instructive roles in these events. My talk will discuss how epigenetic
changes silence whole chromosomes in human embryos, choreograph DNA
folding, and influence how cells specialise.

The journey of human development is initiated with the fertilization of the egg. With the advent of assisted reproduction this journey may begin in a dish. The fertilized human egg develops in vitro until day 5-6, when it is transferred to the mother to allow implantation into the uterus and developmental progression. But what happens if instead of transferring the embryo we culture it longer? And if we dissociate the embryo into its building blocks -the stem cells- could we build the embryo back? Let’s explore the self-organizing properties of human embryos and embryonic stem cells.