The majority of fertilized eggs die and are resorbed into the body. ZEISS Microscopy/Flickr, CC BY-SA As an evolutionary biologist whose career has focused on how embryos develop in a wide variety of ...

Our understanding of human placenta formation just deepened with the discovery of a gene essential to early embryonic ...

What do the earliest stages of a pregnancy look like? Embryonic development has been extensively studied, but most of our knowledge of the earliest stages of a growing baby come from stationary ...

A gene that turns on very early in embryonic development could be key to the formation of the placenta, which provides the ...

University of Cambridge scientists have used human stem cells to create three-dimensional embryo-like structures that replicate certain aspects of very early human development—including the production ...

University of Cambridge scientists have used human stem cells to create three-dimensional embryo-like structures that replicate certain aspects of very early human development - including the ...

Scientists are exploring ways to mimic the origins of human life without two fundamental components: sperm and egg. They are coaxing clusters of stem cells – programmable cells that can transform into ...

Our ancient past isn't always buried history. When it comes to our DNA, nearly 9% of the human genome is made up of leftover genetic material from ancient viruses (called endogenous retroviruses or ...

Ancient viruses are embedded everywhere in the human genome. Estimates range, but it's thought that about eight percent of the human genome could be made up of these ancient retroviruses, which are ...

The team observed the emergence of the three-dimensional embryo-like structures under a microscope in the lab. These started producing blood (seen here in red) after around two weeks of development - ...