Summary of the science
A fertilised egg becomes an embryo through the multiplication and specialisation of stem cells, which have a special characteristic of being able to develop into any other cell type. Janet Rossant's work aims to understand how these cells work so that they could be manipulated to treat diseases where stem cells could be beneficial and to develop stem cells as a useful tool for general biomedical research.
About the research
Janet Rossant’s work is concerned with cell fate in embryological development. Her research has shed light on how early embryonic stem cells develop into different cell lineages and has identified some of the genes that underlie this process. Furthermore, she has contributed to the discovery of the trophoblast stem cell. Her current work continues to investigate the mechanisms and genetic factors involved in the development of embryonic stem cells, using mice as model systems for applications in treating human disease.
About the illustration