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The body plan of all animals can be defined with respect to three axes – top-down, front-back and left-right. Of these, the left-right axis of the body is peculiar because of the following reason – externally, most organs such as eyes, ears and the entire muscle and skeletal system are similar, i.e. symmetric, on the two sides, while internally, most organs such as heart and liver are asymmetric, with the heart positioned to the left and liver positioned to the right. While how symmetries are broken along the left-right axis is well studied, it remains unexplored how symmetric structures emerge at precise locations in the body during embryo development. Here, I will take you through what is known about left-right axis establishment during embryo development and how our newly established lab is using an interdisciplinary approach to tackle emergence of symmetry in embryos.
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