English

Three Germ Layers and a Paradigm Shift

In Brief:

  • NIDCR researchers made an unexpected discovery that helps to answer a long-standing mystery tied to a group of stem cells that are key to vertebrate development.
  • The finding could help scientists better grasp how neural crest development goes awry to cause birth defects.
Legacies of the Pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic thrust NIDCR science into the spotlight. Research on virus biology, detection methods, and more could ready us for future pandemics.
Cracking the Code to the Human Face

There’s a reason we can spot a friend in a sea of people — humans are wired to fixate on faces. We are exceptionally good at recognizing faces by teasing out subtle differences in facial features, like a square jaw, arched brows, or high cheekbones.

Building Back Broken Bones
NIDCR scientists found that mice lacking a protein called biglycan developed weak bones that healed poorly from fractures. The findings could inform strategies to better repair fractures and treat disorders marked by bone loss, such as osteoporosis.