A Fox code for the face

Skeletal staining of the lower face of a zebrafish, with cartilage in blue, and bones and teeth in red. (Image by Pengfei Xu/Crump Lab)

In the developing face, how do stem cells know whether to become cartilage, bones or teeth? To begin to answer this question, scientists from the USC Stem Cell laboratory of Gage Crump tested the role of a key family of genes, called “Forkhead-domain transcription factors,” or Fox. Their findings appear in the journal Development.

To read more, visit stemcell.keck.usc.edu/a-fox-code-for-the-face.