This important and exciting atlas shows with unprecedented resolution the development of the human embryo from fertilization to the end of pre-implantation development. Technology can now capture dynamic changes at the subcellular level that drive embryogenesis and development, allowing the whole team in reproductive medicine to move on from traditional imaging of fixed specimens or classic light microscopy to seeing, as if in 3D and real time, the process of fertilization and development of the human embryo – and of developmental defects. The human embryo research documented here will be of paramount importance for reproductive health, offering the chance to advance fertility treatments, genetic disease prevention, and our understanding of early human development.
This atlas shows with unprecedented resolution the human embryo’s development from fertilization to pre-implantation. Technology captures the changes driving embryogenesis, allowing Reproductive Medicine to move from fixed specimens to seeing fertilization and defects in 3D—advancing fertility treatment, disease prevention, and research.
Preface. Imaging preimplantation embryos with cellular resolution.
Fertilization and early cell cleavages. Embryo compaction and polarization.
Lineage segregation. Blastocyst morphogenesis and hatching. Changes in
cellular organization during preimplantation development. Identifying
cellular features indicating compromised embryo development.
Nicolas D Plachta, Ph.D. is the William Richard Gordon President's Distinguished Professor in Genetics and Scientific Director , Cell and Developmental Biology Microscopy Core, at the Smilow Center for Translational Research at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.