Molecular mechanisms of cell fate decisions in gastrulation and early organogenesis

A mouse embryo’s cells decide their future identities through a mix of internal genetic programs and signals from neighbouring cells, and researchers are now mapping those decisions cell by cell. This matters because the first days of embryonic development—when a ball of identical cells transforms into a body with distinct tissues and organs—remain poorly understood at the mechanistic level. Recent single-cell studies have revealed that cells can adopt their fates autonomously or in response to external cues, and that different developmental paths can lead to the same final cell type. But the underlying rules that govern these choices are unknown. The team will combine in vivo experiments with quantitative modelling, using genome editing to disrupt cell fate decisions in living mouse embryos. By comparing how cells commit to becoming ectoderm, mesoderm, or endoderm, they aim to uncover shared and unique principles of fate determination. This is fundamental science. It will not produce a direct application. But understanding how cells reliably build a body from scratch could eventually inform regenerative medicine, organoid engineering, or the design of synthetic tissues—much as earlier work on developmental patterning laid the groundwork for stem cell therapies.