It’s a long-standing question and one that fascinates Stewart Russell: “How do we go from a single cell to a multi-quadrillion-celled organism?”
Learning more about early embryonic development will help satisfy some curiosity for Russell, a PhD student in biomedical science. Along the way, he expects his studies of cattle genetics and molecular biology will also help breeders and producers in Canada’s multitrillion-dollar dairy and beef industries.
Stewart Russell
Only about one out of three cattle embryos now grows beyond a blastocyst, or the stage of development consisting of a few hundred cells reached within less than a week of fertilization. Improving the odds might start with learning more about the basics.
“There are so many molecular aspects we don’t understand,” says Russell, who works with Prof. Jonathan LaMarre. They belong to the reproductive biology and development research group within the department, occupying a suite of labs in the Ontario Veterinary College.
They’re studying a molecular pathway needed for development of viable embryos. Much of their work is pioneering, says Russell. “My project is one of the only demonstrations that this path is important in early embryogenesis.”
For more, see the story in At Guelph.