An average human body consists of 37 trillion cells, each in its own specialized role. How a single cell can evolve into this astounding variety and number of tissues and organs is still one of the great mysteries that humans try to solve for ages through science, religion, and philosophy.
How does a single cell produce 37 trillion cells in a human body?
The last decades of scientific research gave rise to studies in stem cells, which are able to turn into different types to form various tissues and organs in a human body. These early cells give rise to all different type of tissues in human body such as guts, nerves, arteries, blood, etc.
Scientists now can turn skin cells into stem cells, which are able to turn themselves into any type of cell.
A recent study by scientists from Yale University and the Mayo Clinic in the USA looked into the earliest stages of development of humans, tracking cellular imaging.
One astounding discovery is that one of the first embryo cells gives rise to almost 90% of all other cells in the adult human body, while the other daughter cell takes the job of creating the placenta, which will protect and nurture the embryo.
In this research scientists used skin cells from two people who are still alive and then looked into the lineage of how they developed and accumulated non-inherited mutations along the way. Such mutations occur on every step of cell division and by the number of cells containing this particular mutation researchers can understand how early in the development the mutation occur: The more cells with this mutation are present, the earlier in the development it occurred.
“It’s like Ancestry.com for our bodies,” said Flora Vaccarino, professor at Yale Child Study Centre and a co-author of the study.
This is why it is possible to detect these mutations that occurred in early states of the development in embryo, as the same mutations are present in samples from various organs.
It is these early mutations that can give rise to developmental disorders like autism. This can happen, according to scientists, due to certain cellular malfunctions highjacking developmental regulators, which alters growth of certain cell lineages and schedules of growth.
The novel technology created by scientists allows to peer into the window of a person’s cellular history in a non-invasive way.
Are we just one step away from designer babies? Or do you think that this is already happening, we just don’t know about it yet?
Read also:
- How to live up to 100 years and longer, according to scientists
- The real reason why your hair turns grey
- How 10 trillion gut microbes affect your health
- Artificially sweetened drinks aren’t better for heart health than sugary drinks
Share this article
CommentsКомментарии ( 0 )