i. What are the factors or any potential signaling compounds that initiate spontaneous abortion or apoptosis in embryos at any given stage?

ii. What genetic modifications are necessary to transform/induce a wholly differentiated cell into a pleuripotent cell and by what mechanisms?

iii. What is the genetic/biochemical basis for humans’s heightened alcohol tolerance versus our recent common ancestors?

For ii:

I am interested in this broad question because even some small fraction of the answers to it could yield a source of stem cells that could be easily derived from almost any source. The potential of stem cells and their potential induction patterns has always made me dream of creative scientific/medical solutions to previously unsolved issues. I am excited to be alive during this time of exponential scientific data acquisition where creativity and knowledge can be so readily united in problem solving, and stem cells are one example of a relatively recent discovery that I can’t help but feel is going to explode in the next couple decades.

(And, frankly, I wish I knew more about stem cells than I do now!)

I realize this research is current and there have already been breakthroughs with some types of cells, like adipose, but further research could yield other types of convenient sources or more efficiently yielding and quicker processing techniques. The impact that would be had on the discipline of developmental genetics/biology would not change the whole field, but it would heavily influence it. An accurate description of all the mechanisms by which pleuripotency could be induced would yield much information that could be attributed throughout the many areas of developmental studies: The biochemical signal transduction  pathways would contribute  to the total sum knowledge and explain previously unknown results when dealing with the relevant compounds, the different stages of induction and the degree of specificity and determination could be rationalized/explained in a clear step-by-step mechanistic ways without needing whole tissue transplants to be performed, and there would be a higher availability of stem cells for all follow-up experimentation. Of all scientific fields, the largest impact would be upon medicine, whereby the availability of stem cells and their understanding would be greater. This means that therapeutic applications could be developed and applied to patients for cheaper. More advanced applications could also be developed than before and the efficiency of treatment would be increased. The community at large could benefit from these advancements if the knowledge is properly spread and it is made accessible to the general population around the world. Consistent full organ replacement, increased medical research potential, non-controversial stem cell sources, and economic efficiency for patient treatment are just some offhand examples of the benefits the public could benefit from.

-Reid Thomson