How do fingers grow and can they regenerate

手指和脚趾是由一系列称为趾骨的小骨头沿着沿着它们的长度组成的节段性结构，由滑膜关节分开。虽然在胚胎发育过程中形成的手指数量是高度保守的，也是理解胚胎发育一般机制的经典模型，但手指和脚趾实际上是如何生长和分割的，这是根本未知的。然而，改变的手指发育是先天性手或脚差异的最常见形式，对人和动物的福利具有重要意义。例如，据估计，在人类活产婴儿中，最多有2%的婴儿患有短指（趾）畸形，其中趾骨很小或畸形。我们的手指在访问和操纵我们的环境中也起着重要的作用，但正如大多数人所知，这经常导致损坏甚至损失！手指或脚趾的缺失会产生深远的功能后果，特别是人类，像许多脊椎动物一样，再生手指的能力非常有限。该项目的目的是，首次使用表达软骨报告基因的鸡胚胎的卵外成像，结合计算机视觉分析，可视化手指生长，以回答“手指是如何生长的？”'.

Digits- fingers and toes, are segmental structures made up along their length by a series of small bones called phalanges, separated by synovial joints. While the number of digits which form during embryonic development is both highly conserved and a classical model to understand the general mechanisms of embryonic development, how fingers and toes actually grow out and segment is fundamentally unknown. Altered digit development is, however, the most common form of congenital hand or foot differences with important implications for welfare of people and animals. Brachydactyly, for example, in which phalanges are small or malformed is estimated to occur in up to 2% of human live births. Our digits also play an important role in accessing and manipulating our environment, but as most people know, this frequently leads to damage or even loss! A loss of a finger or toe, has profound functional consequences, especially as humans, like many vertebrates, have a very limited ability to regenerate their digits. This project aims, for the first time, to visualise digit outgrowth using ex-ovo imaging of chicken embryos expressing cartilage reporters, combined with computer visions analysis, to answer the question 'How does a finger grow?'.