Genetic Profiling Reveals Genes Active In The Earliest Brain Circuit Construction

Saturday, May 30, 2009 - 17:28 in Biology & Nature

Long before the brain's neurons can facilitate life's big decisions, they have to find their own destiny in the rapidly developing embryo. In the lingo of neurobiologists, they are "fated" very early on to become certain types of cells, over time traveling to and organizing the various structures that compose the brain. These earliest developments are difficult to observe, like the first few moments in the life of the universe following the Big Bang. But by adapting new tools of genetic profiling, researchers have peered into the brain as it's born and teased out genes that shape its aboriginal fate.

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