How did the characteristic pattern of embryonic cell divisions during animal development evolve? Analysis of the multicellular development of an organism related to animals now provides some answers.

Chromosphaera perkinsii is a single-celled species discovered in 2017 in marine sediments around Hawaii. The first signs of its presence on Earth have been dated at over a billion years, well before ...

In order for vertebrate embryos to develop their body axes, they require what is known as an embryonic signaling center. This group of cells provides the instructions that determine where up and down, ...

Embryo development starts when a single egg cell is fertilized and starts dividing continuously. Initially a chaotic cluster, it gradually evolves into a highly organized structure. Scientists have ...

Their “programmable” embryo-like structures, also known as embryoids, can be used to study the role of certain genes in early development The earliest days after fertilization, once a sperm cell meets ...

The first few days of a human embryo’s development, known as pre-implantation, are important. It’s when the first cells are formed, and these decide if the embryo can survive, how it will implant in ...