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Abstract: Setting apart embryonic and extraembryonic cell types are a series of crucial events needed for the successful outcome of mammalian pregnancy and are the earliest fate decisions cells encounter following fertilization. Using the mouse as a model I have been questioning how these cell identities arise and how they are concurrently organized to build a blastocyst embryo. Despite decades of research on embryos and their stem cell derivatives which has yielded a near-complete list of transcription factors and signaling pathways involved, our understanding of how these components function together in space and time is still limited. I will first discuss our ongoing efforts to understand the dynamics of blastocyst formation using live imaging approaches. I will then discuss the current limitations of using stem cells to model the earliest stages of embryonic development.

Host: Oliver Bell