Genes aren’t the sole driver instructing cells to build multicellular structures, tissues, and organs.

In a new paper published in Nature Communications, USC Stem Cell scientist Leonardo Morsut, PhD, and Caltech computational biologist Matt Thomson characterize the influence of another important developmental driver: cell density, or how loosely or tightly cells are packed into a given space.

In both computational models and laboratory experiments, the team of scientists used cell density as an effective tool for controlling how mouse cells pattern themselves into complex structures.

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