Embryo News and Research

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Epigenome plays significant part in embryonic development

The early stages of embryonic development shape our cells and tissues for life. It is during this time that our newly formed cells are transformed into heart, skin, nerve or other cell types. Scientists are finding that this process is largely controlled not by the genome, but by the epigenome, chemical markers on DNA that tell cells when to turn genes on and off.

24 Feb 2015

Study shows that de novo mutations can be detected in human in vitro fertilized embryos using PGD

Reprogenetics, the largest U.S. genetics laboratory specializing in Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD), announced today the publication of new clinical data in the March issue of Genome Research demonstrating that de novo single base mutations can be detected in embryos after in vitro fertilization (IVF).

16 Feb 2015

Researchers reveal how damage from obesity passes from mother to children

In a breakthrough discovery, researchers at the University of Adelaide have revealed how damage from obesity is passed from a mother to her children, and also how that damage can be reversed.

10 Feb 2015

NR2F1 gene: A 'master regulator' of tumor cell growth

Two existing cancer drugs turn on a gene that tells tumor cells to remain inactive, according to a study led by researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and published today in Nature Communications.

31 Jan 2015

Scientists identify gene that helps regulate development of central nervous system

Scientists have identified a gene that helps regulate how well nerves of the central nervous system are insulated, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis report.

23 Jan 2015

Knocking down a single gene can help stop stress from causing infertility, miscarriage

Scientists from the University of California Berkeley have discovered that by knocking down a single gene, they can stop stress from causing female infertility and miscarriage - in rats.

14 Jan 2015

Scientists find that blocking hormone reduces stress-induced infertility in female rats

University of California, Berkeley, scientists have discovered that chronic stress activates a hormone that reduces fertility long after the stress has ended, and that blocking this hormone returns female reproductive behavior to normal.

13 Jan 2015

UCLA researchers develop method that defines unique stages of reprogramming skin cells

In a groundbreaking study that provides scientists with a critical new understanding of stem cell development and its role in disease, UCLA researchers at the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research led by Dr. Kathrin Plath, professor of biological chemistry, have established a first-of-its-kind methodology that defines the unique stages by which specialized cells are reprogrammed into stem cells that resemble those found in the embryo.

7 Jan 2015

New research sheds light on process that controls genes and determines cell fate

For a skin cell to do its job, it must turn on a completely different set of genes than a liver cell — and keep genes it doesn’t need switched off. One way of turning off large groups of genes at once is to send them to “time-out” at the edge of the nucleus, where they are kept quiet. New research from Johns Hopkins sheds light on how DNA gets sent to the nucleus’ far edge, a process critical to controlling genes and determining cell fate.

7 Jan 2015

Scientists image zinc atoms released by fertilized mammalian egg

Sparks literally fly when a sperm and an egg hit it off. The fertilized mammalian egg releases from its surface billions of zinc atoms in "zinc sparks," one wave after another, found a Northwestern University-led interdisciplinary research team that includes experts from the U.S. Department of Energy's Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Laboratory.

24 Dec 2014

Pre-clinical studies confirm TRXE-009 as new potential treatment for melanoma

Novogen Limited, Australian/US biotechnology company, today announces that it has confirmed that its lead candidate product, TRXE-009, originally developed for the treatment of brain cancers, has been shown in pre-clinical studies also to be highly active against melanoma.

16 Dec 2014

Penn study has implications for developing new cell-based treatments for skin disease

As the main component of connective tissue in the body, fibroblasts are the most common type of cell. Taking advantage of that ready availability, scientists from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, the Wistar Institute, Boston University School of Medicine, and New Jersey Institute of Technology have discovered a way to repurpose fibroblasts into functional melanocytes, the body's pigment-producing cells.

16 Dec 2014

Experts expose fundamental role of chaos and complexity in biological information processing

The interdisciplinary approach to problems that till recently were addressed in the hermetic framework of distinct disciplines such as physics, informatics, biology or sociology constitutes today one of the most active and innovative areas of science, where fundamental issues meet problems of everyday concern.

14 Dec 2014

Pregnant women lacking vitamin E nearly twice as likely to have miscarriage

Pregnant women in Bangladesh with low levels of the most common form of vitamin E are nearly twice as likely to have a miscarriage than those with adequate levels of the vitamin in their blood, according to new research led by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

3 Dec 2014

Maternal age and successful egg freezing with PGS: an interview with Dr. Santiago Munné

The leading cause of of pregnancy loss or infertility is chromosomal abnormality or imbalance, where extra genetic material is present or some is missing - what’s called aneuploidy. This imbalance leads to the inability to produce viable embryos or pregnancy.

2 Dec 2014

Finding could upend scientific consensus about when embryonic cells begin separating into cell types

Bioengineers at the University of California, San Diego have discovered that mouse embryos are contemplating their cellular fates in the earliest stages after fertilization when the embryo has only two to four cells, a discovery that could upend the scientific consensus about when embryonic cells begin differentiating into cell types.

28 Nov 2014

Uterine contractions have positive effect on artificial insemination

The negative impact of contractions during in vitro fertilisation is a well-known fact. What was unknown until now was the effect it had on artificial insemination.

27 Nov 2014

Study underlines critical role of Fragile X mental retardation protein in brain development

Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is the most common cause of inherited intellectual disability (ID), as well as the most frequent monogenic cause of autism spectrum disorders (ASD). FXS is caused by the absence or incorrect production of the protein FMRP (Fragile X Mental Retardation Protein).

17 Nov 2014

UCSD researchers describe surprising role of protein in embryonic development

Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) give rise to all blood and immune cells throughout the life of vertebrate organisms, from zebrafish to humans. But details of their genesis remain elusive, hindering efforts to develop induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) replacements that might address a host of blood disorders.

7 Nov 2014

Researchers reconstruct early stages of mammalian development using embryonic stem cells

Researchers at the University of Cambridge have managed to reconstruct the early stage of mammalian development using embryonic stem cells, showing that a critical mass of cells – not too few, but not too many – is needed for the cells to being self-organising into the correct structure for an embryo to form.

6 Nov 2014