Sentences with phrase «human embryo development»

The researchers focused on basic questions about how one gene affects human embryo development.

A new technique that allows embryos to develop in vitro beyond the implantation stage (when the embryo would normally implant into the womb) has been developed by scientists at the University of Cambridge allowing them to analyse for the first time key stages of human embryo development up to 13 days after fertilisation.

One study, to be published online September 11 in Nature Communications, found that a much smaller number of genes than previously believed serve as the ignition switch for human embryo development.

Their work will improve our understanding of early human embryo development, understanding which is desperately needed to improve IVF success rates as the authors say, and also to increase the safety of IVF treatments.

As well as human embryo development, OCT4 is thought to be important in stem cell biology.

Niakan, who works at the Francis Crick Institute in London, applied for permission to use the technique in studies to better understand the role of key genes during the first few days of human embryo development.

«We were surprised to see just how crucial this gene is for human embryo development, but we need to continue our work to confirm its role» says Dr Norah Fogarty from the Francis Crick Institute, first author of the study.

If the techniques work, there are many interesting questions that could be asked about the role of specific genes in early human embryo development, especially as there is accumulating evidence that equivalent stages of embryos from other mammals, notably the mouse from which most of our understanding has come, may rely on the activity of different genes.

Unequal growth between genetically identical monozygotic (MZ) twins in the womb may be triggered in the earliest stages of human embryo development, according to a new study led by King's College London.

In the first days after an egg is fertilized, throwing a few key genetic switches revs up human embryo development, two new studies suggest.

The team used genome editing techniques to stop a key gene from producing a protein called OCT4, which normally becomes active in the first few days of human embryo development.