Human Pre-gastrulation Development.

Human Pre-gastrulation Development. Curr Top Dev Biol. 2018;128:295-338 Authors: Wamaitha SE, Niakan KK Abstract Understanding the progression of early human embryonic development prior to implantation is of fundamental biological importance. Greater insights into early developmental events may lead to clinical improvements, not only via the establishment of novel stem cell models with increased potential or more physiological relevance, but also by uncovering some underlying causes of infertility, miscarriages, and developmental disorders. The majority of human embryos available for study are those donated to research once they are surplus to family building following in vitro fertilization, though in some countries it is also possible to create embryos using donated gametes. As human embryo development is surprisingly inefficient, with only 40% reaching the blastocyst stage in vitro (French, Sabanegh, Goldfarb, & Desai, 2010; Gardner, Lane, Stevens, Schlenker, & Schoolcraft, 2000), many embryos may not develop to a stage suitable for study. Where legally permitted, the oversight of human embryo research is subject to either ethics approval from a local institutional review board (i.e., China and the United States) or both a national regulator as well as a regional research ethics committee (i.e., the United Kingdom). The study of human development has historically been by necessity comparative, relying on model organisms an...
Source: Current Topics in Developmental Biology - Category: Biology Authors: Tags: Curr Top Dev Biol Source Type: research