Science 329, 967–971 (2010)

Time-lapse imaging has revealed new details about the zebrafish embryo as it undergoes its first ten cell-division cycles.

Nadine Peyriéras and Emmanuel Beaurepaire of the French National Centre for Scientific Research in Gif-sur-Yvette and Palaiseau, respectively, and their colleagues have developed a microscopy technique that visualizes protein tubules involved in cell division and cell boundaries in live embryos, with micrometre resolution. The method does not involve fluorescent dyes.

Credit: SCIENCE/AAAS

The team analysed three-dimensional images from six embryos and digitally reconstructed their growth (pictured). The authors were able to track the position and lineage of each cell and found, for example, that the cell-cycle duration was longer for cells deeper in the embryo, leading to a wave-like pattern of embryo development.