The main focus of my research is to understand how a cell that is biased towards a certain cell type can suddenly decide to change its “mind” and go an entirely different direction, which is a property known as plasticity and a mechanism that the embryo can use to rescue its own development in case something goes wrong.
Impact
Around 30% of unsuccessful pregnancies resulting in miscarriage occur before implantation. Better understanding of how the embryo regulates itself and why this sometimes fails means that we can then use this knowledge to improve human reproduction.
reNEW research
I am a 3rd year PhD student and my research project is currently under peer review.
Image description
The image shows differentiated mouse embryonic stem cells cultured on a 100µm circular micropattern where the inner yellow cells originated from the outer magenta cells after switching cell identity.
Credits
Madeleine Linneberg-Agerholm, Josh Brickman’s lab, reNEW Copenhagen.