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Medical Definition of Embryonic induction
1. The induction of differentiation in one tissue as a result of proximity to another tissue arising, for example: during gastrulation. One of the best known examples is the induction of the neural tube in the ectoderm by the underlying chordo mesoderm. Although the information to form the tube is present in the competent determined ectoderm, it must be elicited by the inducing tissue. In some cases it is known that cell cell contact between epithelium and mesenchyme is necessary. This entry appears with permission from the Dictionary of Cell and Molecular Biology (11 Mar 2008)