Many four-legged animals go through embryonic stages that have similar features -- gill arches, a notochord, segmentation, and paddle-like limb buds -- as they develop into different adults.

Closely studied, stem cell lines might give scientists new clues about the growth factors that drive tissue differentiation from the earliest embryonic stage forward. This would permit new ...

The entire process is termed morphogenesis. These early steps of embryonic development are key, as they set the stage for all ...

The fusion of sperm and egg gametes during human fertilization establishes a diploid zygote and initiates a series of cell divisions that result in a multicellular embryo. The blastocyst stage is ...

How cells utilize electric fields to guide their migration during embryonic development. As an embryo develops, cells ...

Now - the clever bit. The cells on the inside layer of this very early embryo can make all of the cell types needed in your body. They're called stem cells. The stem cells continue to divide by ...

Old viral DNA, once thought to be gone forever, is reactivated in mammalian embryos, with each species showing unique ...

More than half of the mammalian genome consists of remnants of ancient viral DNA known as ‘transposable elements’ ─ sequences ...