brain

Stem cells on the brain: why can’t the brain just fix itself?

February 1, 2021 / By / 5 Comments
p27-staining-of-developing-mouse-brain-cerebellum.

Why doesn’t the brain fix itself using stem cells the way other organs do? Earlier this week I was lecturing to students here at UC Davis on stem cells. One of the points I raised was that most if not all of our organs have a compliment of stem cells that are there to maintain …

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Why is the human brain super-sized?

February 1, 2021 / By / 4 Comments
human-brain

Why do people have such a big brain compared to other animals? Vertebrate embryonic development is a highly conserved process, particularly in the earliest phases. (note: you may find this September 2020 post on regulation of bee brain size to be interesting.) A wide variety of vertebrate animals including humans start out with embryonic body plans …

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