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At the Boundary
01 March 2016

At the Boundary

Along the journey from one cell to the billions that make up a baby, cells specialise to form different organs, such as the gut, brain, liver and skin. Even within one organ, there can be different types of tissue, such as the small and large intestines within the gut. It’s essential that cells know and remember which of these compartments they belong to, in order to keep things functioning properly. This gets ‘forgotten’ in cancer as a tumour invades the tissue around it. This image shows cells in a fruit fly’s gut, used as a model for the human version, with the green patch highlighting cells belonging to one type of tissue against a backdrop of different cells. The boundary between them is controlled by a ‘messenger’ signal called Wnt, which is faulty in many human bowel tumours – something that scientists are now trying to target with new cancer drugs.

Written by Kat Arney

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BPoD stands for Biomedical Picture of the Day. Managed by the MRC Laboratory of Medical Sciences until Jul 2023, it is now run independently by a dedicated team of scientists and writers. The website aims to engage everyone, young and old, in the wonders of biology, and its influence on medicine. The ever-growing archive of more than 4000 research images documents over a decade of progress. Explore the collection and see what you discover. Images are kindly provided for inclusion on this website through the generosity of scientists across the globe.

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