Bioelectric control of embryonic development

Project ID: 2228cd1324 (You will need this ID for your application)

UCL Lead department: Division of Biosciences

Project Summary:

The study of embryonic development—i.e., how single cells become complex organisms—has focused largely on the genes that, if mutated or lost, cause defects or diseases. However, there is mounting evidence that electrical cues can also determine how the embryo grows and even how missing body parts can regenerate. To understand how this potential new way of controlling animal development works, we need to design tools that allow quantitative measurements of electric properties in living embryos, which are not only very small (in the order of 0.5-5 mm) but also very fragile. Critically, being able to map bioelectric properties in embryos would likely inform new strategies to expedite regeneration in adult tissues and to direct synthetic morphogenesis for organ replacement. So far, these properties have been measured only indirectly. Here, we propose to develop cutting-edge microelectronics to map the bioelectric properties of the chicken embryo during the first 15 hours of development, when the head-to-tail axis is established. This will allow us to identify—for the first time—patterns of bioelectric properties that may control how the embryo develops. In addition, learning from these measurements, we will develop current generator circuits for locally modulating the normal electric fields and potentially steer embryo development towards new developmental trajectories.