Formation of the body axes is a critical part of embryonic development. They guarantee that all body parts end up where they belong and that no ears grow on our backs. The head-tail axis, for example, ...
Early in pregnancy, something surprising happens. Every human embryo develops a tail. It is not symbolic or imagined. A real extension forms at the base of the spine, complete with vertebrae. Later, ...
WASHINGTON, Feb 28 (Reuters) - Director James Cameron's "Avatar" movies are populated by a species of outsized blue beings resembling humans, except with tails. So why does our species lack a tail, ...
Millions of years ago, our ancient ancestors, the apes, lost their tails. A new study shows how (and hints at why). The monkey tail is one of nature’s most marvelous tree-top tools. Balancing their ...
In innumerable spy movies, the hero or a villain imprints a key in clay in order to later make an exact copy. In the body, the clay is messenger RNA, or mRNA, which imprints a gene and transfers the ...