Christine Thisse
Morphogenesis is the question I study, focusing on how a vertebrate embryo is patterned during embryogenesis. We achieved an extensive analysis of the morphogens responsible for establishing the embryonic axes in the zebrafish and defined that maternal Wnt8a is responsible for the first symmetry-breaking event of the embryo. Two opposing morphogen gradients are sufficient to induce the mechanisms required to organize uncommitted cells of the blastula into a well-developed embryo. Using these principles, and in response to a controlled instruction, aggregates of mouse embryonic stem cells develop into embryo-like entities mimicking embryogenesis of a mouse embryo until mid-gestation.
