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 stretch of DNA in the mouse genome left by ancient viral infections is crucial for early development in the womb, new research shows. According to the study, published in December in the journal ...

Researchers have discovered a key transition in early embryonic development is facilitated by decreasing levels of a viral protein inserted into the DNA of our early animal ancestors. Researchers at ...

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 ...

3D rendered flourescent animation of a very early mouse embryo at around 5.5 days post fertilisation. The embryo has been labelled with two flourescent markers, one highlights the cell nuclei (Dapi) ...

Scientists at the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC), used CRISPR to engineer cellular models of embryos that mimic what happens in the first few days after reproductive cells meet. These ...

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 ...

A research team led by Associate Professor Hirofumi Nishizono and graduate student Masaki Kato from the Research Support Center at the Medical Research Institute of Kanazawa Medical University has ...