The Self-Organizing Bone Wave Underlying Skull Growth

We typically take our skulls for granted, beyond their basic function in keeping our brain safe and sound within our head. When you look in the mirror, the shape of your skull, which forms the very structure beneath your face, is something you may not have considered in much detail. However, the story of how your skull came to be, and how bone spread across your embryonic head in perfect symmetry to form a complete and protective dome over your brain, is a marvel of biology that scientists are only just beginning to understand. In a new study led by Dr. Jacqueline Tabler at the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, researchers have uncovered a surprising and elegant mechanism behind how skull bones grow that is different to how we typically think of cell movement and migration in the body. Published in the open-access journal Nature Communications, this latest research rewrites what we thought we knew about cell movement, tissue development, and the mechanics of morphogenesis, the process through which an organism takes shape.