Deborah Gumucio, Ph.D., Director, Center for Organogenesis, Professor, Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, University of Michigan Medical School

This image shows the posterior part of the stomach, a region called the antrum. The antrum is important because the cells that reside here control the release of acid from the more anterior stomach and also direct the release of enzymes from the pancreas that are needed for absorption as food moves into the intestine. This control point is also one of two regions of the stomach that are highly susceptible to cancer. Stem cells that reside deep within the flask-like green structures are responsible for the regular renewal of this surface. Those same stem cells are also believed to be the most likely source of stomach cancers.