Amy Wilkinson

The second week of human embryo development sees a rapid progression in the development of the epiblast – the cell lineage that will give rise to all cell types of the future fetus. At this stage, the epiblast undergoes major morphogenetic, transcriptional, and epigenetic changes, while still maintaining its unspecialised state. Despite the importance of this stage for the success of future development, little is understood of the mechanisms driving and balancing these features in human. My research project aims to better understand the roles of gene regulatory mechanisms in progressing human epiblast development to post-implantation stages by using a range of in vitro culture systems, including stem-cell based embryo models.