Engineered Development: Directed Morphogenesis of an Embryonic Heart Tube

Morphogenesis is a major developmental process that shapes organs in utero through coordinated structural deformations. Outside of simple cellular or animal models, limited models of morphogenesis exist due to the complexity of hierarchical structural change. In development, the embryonic heart undergoes a complex morphogenesis process involving looping, chamber growth, and septation, transforming the primordial tube to an adult four-chambered organ. An in vitro model of looping could provide un