blastema
pronunciation
How to pronounce blastema in British English:
UK [b'lɑ:stəmə]
How to pronounce blastema in American English:
US [b'lɑstəmə]
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- Noun:
- a mass of undifferentiated cells from which an organ or body part develops
Word Origin
- blastema (n.)
- 1849, Modern Latin, from Greek blastema "offspring, offshoot," from stem of blastanein "to shoot forth," from blastos "sprout, germ," which is of unknown origin. Related: Blastemal.
Example
- 1. Tanaka next hopes to decipher the genetic instructions governing blastema formation .
- 2. They found that salamander regeneration begins when a clump of cells called a blastema forms at the tip of a lost limb .
- 3. From the blastema come skin , muscle , bone , blood vessels and neurons , ultimately growing into a limb virtually identical to the old one .
- 4. Bodies might find it easier to accept cells that have been only partially reprogrammed , like those in the axolotl 's blastema , than embryonic or fully reprogrammed cells .