Epigenetic regulation of cell fate decisions at gastrulation

The mammalian embryo makes fundamentally important cell fate decisions during gastrulation which set up the primary germ layers (endoderm, mesoderm, ectoderm) with subsequent development of all major organ systems. While signaling systems, mechanical forces, transcription factors, and epigenetic regulation are all implicated in cell fate decisions, how these systems integrate information to switch cell fate is not known. You will use state of the art single cell multi-omics methods to interrogate individual cells as they make decisions to become particular cell types during gastrulation. You will use CRISPR/Cas genome and epigenome editing to manipulate epigenetic regulators and marks to understand their impact on cell fate.