"We think we've found a common factor in the movement of embryonic cells during development and of cancer cells during the spread of the disease, " said Professor Stern.

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Cyclopamine, it turns out, blocks the function of a gene called Sonic hedgehog that is essential for embryonic development but also plays a lead role in causing deadly cancers of the pancreas, skin, prostate and esophagus.

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Deactivating these genes during embryonic development does not kill the embryo (if it did, then that embryo would be stillborn).

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The second thing the team did was to introduce a genetic mutation into the genome of the young egg that allowed for the production of a growth factor, a kind of protein, that can only come from the paternal genome but is vital for normal embryonic development.

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That discovery has cast light on human embryonic development and, indeed, on the everyday working of adult bodies.

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While China is already the second-largest economy in the world, it is still in an embryonic stage of development.

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To solve the mystery, Dr Kandel, and his colleague Kausik Si, turned to embryonic development.

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In a recent development, embryonic stem cells have been created by using viruses to modify the genes of skin cells.

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