O-114 Instructions for assembly of early mammalian embryos

The Plachta lab has pioneered the use of live-imaging approaches to discover how the preimplantation embryo forms in real time. Our recent findings help to transform the field of preimplantation development by showing how diverse processes occurring at the level of transcription dynamics, cytoskeletal organization, and the action of mechanical forces are integrated in real time to ensure proper embryo development. We extend our studies from mouse to human embryos, which enabled us to discover differences in embryo patterning between species and some of the events causing developmental errors, such as aneuploidy within the intact-developing system.