I often have the feeling that I'm learning secrets - Deeeeep Secrets of embryonic and fetal development. What we (think we) know is pretty amazing. The body of research supporting a single finding such as "We used to think the nerve cells told the muscle cells whether to be fast- or slow-twitch, but now we know that the cells' fates are determined significantly before the nerve cells ever reach them" represents one study, maybe more. The embryology book is filled with such statements. I won't go into the more esoteric of them, but basically when an embryo is growing and the tissues are differentiating, the cells tell each other what to do in a precise pattern that depends on the signaling cells' history and gene expression. And the cells instructed ("induced") by those signaling cells go on to make their own signals for cells further downstream and so on. The point I'm making is that EVERY step we (think we) know had to be teased out from all other steps using the scientific process.
And I get to learn about it.
(Powerpoint is not presenting nearly as profound a problem as it previously had. I print.)
Girlies and Richie await, so adios!
1 comment:
i really enjoy reading about what you're learning -- the only other place i've seen such interesting poetic musing on biological processes is in a book called woman: an intimate geography. i imagine you've read it, but even if you haven't i doubt you'll have time now that you're buried in the big textbooks. but your blog is better than that book, anyway.
very impressed with all that you're doing this year! best of luck...
jessie
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