Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

Distribution of Cytoplasmic Content

Distribution of Cytoplasmic Content

Cytokinesis segregates a cell’s chromosomes and organelles into its daughter cells. Organelles divide and grow prior to cell division but cannot be synthesized de novo; therefore, cells must receive at least one copy of each organelle to survive. Currently, many of the details of how the organelles are distributed are not yet fully elucidated.
Distribution of cytoplasmic determinants
The cytoplasm contains various organelles, as well as salts, proteins, and water. The distribution of small...

Zygotic Development And Stem Cell Formation

Zygotic Development And Stem Cell Formation

The development of all multicellular organisms starts with the fusion of haploid cells called sperm and egg to form a diploid zygote. A zygote is a totipotent cell that can develop into a complete organism. The zygote undergoes cell division or cleavage to form an 8-cell mass. Until this stage, the cells are spherical, loosely attached, and remain totipotent. Totipotent cells are capable of developing both the embryonic and the extraembryonic tissues. However, as they continue to divide, they...

Cell Diversity

Cell Diversity

The concept of a cell started with microscopic observations of dead cork tissue by Robert Hooke in 1665. Hooke coined the term "cell" based on the resemblance of the small subdivisions in the cork to the rooms that monks inhabited, called cells. About ten years later, Antonie van Leeuwenhoek became the first person to observe the living and moving cells under a microscope. In the century that followed, the theory that cells represented the basic unit of life developed.
Multicellular organisms...

Cellular Differentiation

Cellular Differentiation

How does a complex organism such as a human develop from a single cell? It all starts from a single fertilized egg which gives rise to a vast array of cell types, such as nerve cells, muscle cells, and epithelial cells that characterize the adult? Throughout development and adulthood, cellular differentiation leads cells to assume their final morphology and physiology. Differentiation is the process by which unspecialized cells become specialized to carry out distinct functions.
A zygote is a...

Microbial Morphologies

Microbial Morphologies

Bacterial and archaeal cells exhibit remarkable diversity in shape and structure, critical in their adaptability and functionality. Among bacteria, the most commonly observed shapes include cocci and bacilli. Cocci are spherical and may exist singly or in groupings such as pairs (diplococci), chains (streptococci), clusters (staphylococci), or tetrads. Bacilli, in contrast, are rod-shaped and can also occur as single cells, in pairs, or chains, depending on their environmental and genetic...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Probing the limits of genetic recoding using multi-omics-guided evolution.

Nature communications·2026

Same author

Derivation of elephant induced pluripotent stem cells.

Nature methods·2026

Same author

Differences in the rate of distal junctional problems between L3 and L4 pedicle subtraction osteotomy.

Journal of neurosurgery. Spine·2026

Same author

Engineered base editors with reduced bystander editing through directed evolution.

Nature biotechnology·2025

Same author

SNAC: A Single-Nuclei Atlas of Capsid Distribution in Nonhuman Primate Eye.

Human gene therapy·2025

Same author

Simulating a <i>for-loop</i> in the human genome: Design and evaluation of recombinase genetic programs that count to three.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2025

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 7, 2026

Initial 3D Cell Cluster Control in a Hybrid Gel Cube Device for Repeatable Pattern Formations

Initial 3D Cell Cluster Control in a Hybrid Gel Cube Device for Repeatable Pattern Formations

Published on: March 21, 2019

Algorithms for Autonomous Formation of Multicellular Shapes from Single Cells.

Evan Appleton^1,2, Noushin Mehdipour³, Tristan Daifuku^1,2

¹Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States.

ACS Synthetic Biology

|August 28, 2024

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Researchers developed CellArchitect, a computer-aided design tool for creating genetic circuits. This approach enables precise control over multicellular mass formation into desired shapes, starting from a single cell.

Keywords:

computer-aided design developmental biology multicellular structures synthetic biology

More Related Videos

Mapping the Emergent Spatial Organization of Mammalian Cells using Micropatterns and Quantitative Imaging

Mapping the Emergent Spatial Organization of Mammalian Cells using Micropatterns and Quantitative Imaging

Published on: April 30, 2019

Patterning the Geometry of Human Embryonic Stem Cell Colonies on Compliant Substrates to Control Tissue-Level Mechanics

Patterning the Geometry of Human Embryonic Stem Cell Colonies on Compliant Substrates to Control Tissue-Level Mechanics

Published on: September 28, 2019

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jun 7, 2026

Initial 3D Cell Cluster Control in a Hybrid Gel Cube Device for Repeatable Pattern Formations

Initial 3D Cell Cluster Control in a Hybrid Gel Cube Device for Repeatable Pattern Formations

Published on: March 21, 2019

Mapping the Emergent Spatial Organization of Mammalian Cells using Micropatterns and Quantitative Imaging

Mapping the Emergent Spatial Organization of Mammalian Cells using Micropatterns and Quantitative Imaging

Published on: April 30, 2019

Patterning the Geometry of Human Embryonic Stem Cell Colonies on Compliant Substrates to Control Tissue-Level Mechanics

Patterning the Geometry of Human Embryonic Stem Cell Colonies on Compliant Substrates to Control Tissue-Level Mechanics

Published on: September 28, 2019

Area of Science:

Developmental biology
Synthetic biology
Bioengineering

Background:

Multicellular organisms develop from a single cell into complex structures with diverse cell types.
Existing methods for controlling cell mass morphology, such as scaffolds and bioprinting, have limitations.
Controlling multicellular growth and shape purely through genetics from a single cell is an unmet challenge.

Purpose of the Study:

To introduce a novel computational approach for designing genetic circuits.
To enable precise control over the spatial organization and morphology of multicellular cell masses.
To achieve shape control in cellular aggregates starting from a single cell using genetic engineering.

Main Methods:

Development of CellArchitect, a computer-aided design (CAD) platform.
Design of recombinase-based genetic circuits for controlling cell fate and spatial arrangement.
Application of the system in human cells to guide multicellular mass formation.

Main Results:

Demonstration of a computational method for designing genetic circuits.
Successful engineering of genetic circuits to control multicellular mass morphology.
Achieved formation of multicellular masses into arbitrary shapes using a genetic approach.

Conclusions:

CellArchitect provides a novel, genetics-based strategy for controlling multicellular morphology.
This approach overcomes limitations of current tissue engineering techniques.
Enables de novo design of cellular structures with desired shapes from a single-cell origin.