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 ...

Many state legislatures are seriously considering human embryos at the earliest stages of development for legal personhood. Total abortion bans that consider humans to have full rights from the moment ...

When sperm meets egg, the start of life is not quiet. Under a special microscope, researchers have watched a tiny light show at fertilization. They see a microscopic flash at fertilization, a burst of ...

Multiple genetic changes can occur before or early after conception, a new study describes. The researchers looked at a type of genetic change called copy number variants, which refers to the number ...

Scientists based at The Rockefeller University have created an experimental system that models the implantation of a human embryo. The new system, an adaptation of one used to recapitulate the ...

A stunning explosion of zinc fireworks occurs when a human egg is activated by a sperm enzyme, and the size of these 'sparks' is a direct measure of the quality of the egg and its ability to develop ...