Around eight days after fertilization, the human embryo implants in the endometrium (the tissue that lines the uterus). After implantation, it enters a developmental phase that is not well understood ...

In the earliest hours after fertilization, an embryo takes its first steps toward becoming a living organism by shedding maternal control and activating its own genetic program. This critical process, ...

A new "atlas" of early embryonic development in mammals suggests that the process is highly chaotic — but there is some method to the madness. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn ...

The mystery of early embryonic communication is starting to be unraveled thanks to a new stem cell-based model.

Over half of our genomes consists of thousands of remnants of ancient viral DNA, known as transposable elements, which are widespread across the tree of life. Once dismissed as the "dark side" of the ...

Technological, ethical and legal issues have limited the understanding of the early stages of embryonic development in humans, despite its importance in basic developmental biology and reproductive ...

Nearly half the embryos studied underwent developmental arrest because of genetic mishaps in early development—a revealing insight that suggests more IVF babies could come to term with changes in the ...

Understanding how cells differentiate during early embryonic development is crucial for advancing regenerative medicine and developmental biology. Pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) have been invaluable ...

Research shows how the curved shape of a zebrafish egg sets cell division timing, gene activation, and early cell fate ...

A research team showed that, contrary to current models, one early embryonic cell dominates lineages that will become the fetus. “They are not identical,” said Magdalena Zernicka-Goetz, a ...