The pancreas and its heartless beginnings

During embryonic development, the pancreas derives from two separate outgro wths of endodermal cells called the ventral and dorsal pancreatic buds, The se buds fuse to form the definitive pancreas. A new study shows that a bipo tential cell population exists in the embryonic endoderm that gives rise to both the liver and the ventral pancreas. The decision by these cells to ad opt either a pancreatic or hepatic cell fate is determined by their proximi ty to the developing heart.