Question

If embryos form as balls of dividing cells that then form a pocket or fold, how do we get shapes? Why aren’t we just big balls of smooshed up playdough?

Answer 1

The cells of the zygote divide repeatedly as the zygote moves down the fallopian tube to the uterus. The zygote enters the uterus in 3 to 5 days. In the uterus, the cells continue to divide, becoming a hollow ball of cells called a blastocyst.

The process of cephalocaudal and lateral folding  that transforms the embryo from a flat disc to a three-dimensional vertebrate body form. As folding occurs,the embryo grows  more rapidly than the yolk sac, the cavity of which remains continuous with the developing gut tube through the narrowing vitelline duct

The embryo, which takes the shape of an oval-shaped disc, forms an indentation called the primitive streak along the dorsal surface of the epiblast. A node at the caudal or “tail” end of the primitive streak emits growth factors that direct cells to multiply and migrate. Cells migrate toward and through the primitive streak and then move laterally to create two new layers of cells. The first layer is the endoderm, a sheet of cells that displaces the hypoblast and lies adjacent to the yolk sac. The second layer of cells fills in as the middle layer, or mesoderm. The cells of the epiblast that remain (not having migrated through the primitive streak) become the ectoderm

Each of these germ layers will develop into specific structures in the embryo. Whereas the ectoderm and endoderm form tightly connected epithelial sheets, the mesodermal cells are less organized and exist as a loosely connected cell community. The ectoderm gives rise to cell lineages that differentiate to become the central and peripheral nervous systems, sensory organs, epidermis, hair, and nails. Mesodermal cells ultimately become the skeleton, muscles, connective tissue, heart, blood vessels, and kidneys. The endoderm goes on to form the epithelial lining of the gastrointestinal tract, liver, and pancreas, as well as the lungs