Multi-scale embryogenesis mechanics from “in-vivo” images

Mechanics play a key role in shaping the embryo, sculpting tissues and organs during the embryogenesis at different stages through force generation and tissue mechanical properties that arise from the coordination in cell behavior and large scale mechanical interactions. Therefore the interplay and orchestration between active and passive mechanisms produce a complex multi-scale system that eventually determines the robustness and variability of embryogenesis. “In-vivo” images of embryogenesis provide now the means to record these processes with high spatio-temporal resolution. Image processing techniques have enabled the reconstruction of digital embryos from in-vivo data and measure patterns from the reconstructed motion. The challenges are now to quantify and understand the different scales and levels of organization of the mechanome and its spatio-temporal dependencies and interactions with the genome and signaling mechanisms.