A milestone in epithelial–mesenchymal transition Epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) is crucial in embryogenesis and can be exploited by cancer cells to gain metastatic abilities.

Instead, the system lingers, for hundreds of seconds, in a long-lived intermediate phase. Then, without further prompting, it abruptly transitions into the new state.

EMT is a biological process in which epithelial cells lose polarity and adhesion, acquiring mesenchymal traits such as increased motility (10, 11). This transition contributes to tissue remodeling, ...