Touching Developments

Life in a developing embryo may sound like chaos – after all, its millions of cells are growing, moving and changing at different rates in a race to create new tissues. Coordinating all this activity requires developing tissues to communicate – exactly what this embryonic cell (highlighted in green) is trying to do. Reaching out across a gap between different sections of a chicken embryo, the cell’s filiopodia-like protrusions (FiLiP) extend like bony fingers – although 4,000 times smaller – carrying chemical messages. This FiLiP took ten minutes to grow out from the somite, which will eventually form the skeleton, towards the ectoderm, an outer layer of cells that will form the skin and the nervous system. Investigating how FiLiPs allow future organs to talk to each other helps to explain how the embryo deals with the mind-boggling level of multi-tasking required in building new life.

Written by John Ankers

John Ankers

Writer

A former researcher in systems biology, John is now an online biology tutor and professional coach supporting the wellbeing of scientists and NHS professionals. He's writing, too, of course.

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• Image by Martin Scaal and colleagues
• University of Cologne, Germany
• Copyright held by The Company of Biologists
• Research published in Development, February 2015