2018 CVM News: Cornell researchers uncover hidden player in gut growth

Abstract

This news item from the Cornell Chronicle is about: A previously ignored part of the intestine has turned into the key to its most crucial moment in embryonic development: the rotation that winds the small and large intestine into its familiar twisted form. Where this rotation is triggered and by what is the subject of new research from Dr. Natasza Kurpios’ lab in the College of Veterinary Medicine, which shows that the right side of the intestine’s connective tissue triggers the gut’s change from a symmetrical tube to coiled spaghetti. This is a major shift in the field, which widely believed the trigger occurred on the left.