Applied Physics/Physics Colloquium: Sharad Ramanathan - Recapitulating early human development
Department of Physics
370 Jane Stanford Way, Stanford, CA 94305
201
The human embryo begins as a simple, two-dimensional sheet of cells, with each cell possessing the ability to give rise to any cell type in the body. As development progresses, this sheet repeatedly tears, folds, and elongates to form the complex structures that define the human body. These dramatic changes in shape are driven by a coordinated series of symmetry-breaking events, during which individual cells commit to distinct fates.
We explore whether it is possible to experimentally control the sequence of spatially coordinated symmetry-breaking events in sheets of cells to generate tissues with complex geometries. Remarkably, we find that correctly coupling the symmetry breaking across sheets, leads to the robust formation of structures that closely resemble tissues found in the early human embryo. Adhering to the strict ethical guidelines that have consequently been imposed on us, we use these lab-generated tissues to gain insights into human development. As an example, I will describe our discovery that mechanical forces play a critical role in generating an early and important human-specific lineage in the brain.
This talk is designed to be accessible to those without prior knowledge of developmental biology.
Sharad Ramanathan’s research is directed towards answering two questions. How do cells and organisms process signals from their environment to make decisions? How do the underlying circuits make this possible? His lab currently addresses these questions in the context of human development to understand how pluripotent stem cells undergo morphogenesis to give rise to the complex tissues in the human embryo. The lab develops and uses a combination of techniques from stem cell and molecular biology, genomics, bioengineering and computational biology.
Ramanathan received his Ph.D. in Chemical Physics from Harvard University and his undergraduate degree from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur. He was a member of technical staff in the Theoretical Physics Department at Bell Laboratories before moving back to Harvard. He is currently also a member of the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, and of the Applied Physics Division in the John A Paulson School of Engineering.