European Molecular Biology Laboratory, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany.
Institute for Genetics, University of Cologne, 50674 Cologne, Germany.
Nature. 2017 Jan 18;541(7637):311-320. doi: 10.1038/nature21348.
A long-term aim of the life sciences is to understand how organismal shape is encoded by the genome. An important challenge is to identify mechanistic links between the genes that control cell-fate decisions and the cellular machines that generate shape, therefore closing the gap between genotype and phenotype. The logic and mechanisms that integrate these different levels of shape control are beginning to be described, and recently discovered mechanisms of cross-talk and feedback are beginning to explain the remarkable robustness of organ assembly. The 'full-circle' understanding of morphogenesis that is emerging, besides solving a key puzzle in biology, provides a mechanistic framework for future approaches to tissue engineering.
生命科学的长期目标之一是了解机体形态如何由基因组编码。一个重要的挑战是确定控制细胞命运决定的基因与产生形态的细胞机器之间的机制联系，从而缩小基因型与表型之间的差距。整合这些不同层次的形态控制的逻辑和机制开始被描述，最近发现的串扰和反馈机制开始解释器官组装的惊人稳健性。正在出现的形态发生的“完整循环”理解，除了解决生物学中的一个关键难题外，还为未来的组织工程方法提供了一个机制框架。
