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blastema

American  
[bla-stee-muh] / blæˈsti mə /

noun

Embryology.
blastemas, plural blastemata plural
  1. an aggregation of cells in an early embryo, capable of differentiation into specialized tissue and organs.


blastema British  
/ blæˈstiːmə, blæˈstiːmɪk, -ˈstɛm- /

noun

  1. a mass of undifferentiated animal cells that will develop into an organ or tissue: present at the site of regeneration of a lost part

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

Inflected Forms

Nouns

Etymology

Origin of blastema

1840–50; < New Latin < Greek blástēma ( blastē- verbid stem of blasteîn to sprout + -ma noun suffix denoting result of action)

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

In salamanders, for example, similar cells gather into a structure called a blastema, which serves as a foundation for new tissue growth.

From Science Daily Jun. 17, 2026

Jellyfish, along with other cnidarians such as corals and sea anemones, exhibit high regeneration abilities, but how they form the critical blastema has remained a mystery until now.

From Science Daily Dec. 22, 2023

"Ultimately, understanding blastema formation mechanisms in regenerative animals, including jellyfish, may help us identify cellular and molecular components that improve our own regenerative abilities."

From Science Daily Dec. 22, 2023

Regenerating functional tissue across species, including salamanders and insects, relies on the ability to form a blastema, a clump of undifferentiated cells that can repair damage and grow into the missing appendage.

From Science Daily Dec. 22, 2023

New Formations I at present entirely reject the blastema doctrine in its original form, and in its place I put the doctrine of the continuous development of tissues out of one another.

From The World's Greatest Books — Volume 15 — Science by Hammerton, John Alexander, Sir

Loss of circular fibres led to a bifurcated anterior–posterior axis with fused heads forming in single anterior blastemas.

From Nature Nov. 21, 2017

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