‘Fate mapping’ traces cell samples back to embryo

A computer model, quantitative fate mapping, looks back in the developmental timeline to trace the origin of cells in a fully grown organism.

Vanessa Wasta-Johns Hopkins • futurity
Dec. 15, 2022 • ~6 min

Most human embryos naturally die after conception – restrictive abortion laws fail to take this embryo loss into account

Human embryos are far more likely to die than come to term, an evolutionary trait seen across species. Laws granting personhood at conception ignore built-in embryo loss, with potentially grave consequences.

Kathryn Kavanagh, Associate Professor of Biology, UMass Dartmouth • conversation
Sept. 1, 2022 • ~10 min

First synthetic embryos: the scientific breakthrough raises serious ethical questions

Adults today may have grown up dreaming they would live to see working jet packs and robot assistants but few people imagined it would be possible to create life without reproductive cells.

Tsutomu Sawai, Associate Professor, Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Hiroshima University • conversation
Aug. 11, 2022 • ~8 min

The fertility industry is poorly regulated – and would-be parents can lose out on having children as a result

An unknown number of people have lost their dreams of parenthood because of storage disasters at fertility clinics. These experts note poor government oversight and the need for stronger regulation.

Dena Sharp, Guest lecturer, University of California, Hastings • conversation
Aug. 23, 2021 • ~8 min

Blowholes are like nostrils that migrate in utero

The cetacean blowhole is a unique kind of nasal passage: It rises at an angle relative to the roof of the mouth and exits at the top of the head.

James Urton-U. Washington • futurity
Aug. 9, 2021 • ~8 min

IVF test actually rules out viable embryos

Many embryos blacklisted by a test for IVF fertilization often develop into healthy babies. "This is going to revolutionize how IVF moves forward."

Katherine Fenz-Rockefeller • futurity
June 3, 2021 • ~6 min

Growing human embryos in the lab and why scientists just tweaked the rules – podcast

Plus, how a new wave of South African romcoms is reimagining Johannesburg. Listen to episode 17 of The Conversation Weekly podcast.

Daniel Merino, Assistant Editor: Science, Health, Environment; Co-Host: The Conversation Weekly Podcast • conversation
May 27, 2021 • ~6 min

Lab–grown embryos and human–monkey hybrids: Medical marvels or ethical missteps?

Researchers have grown the first human-monkey hybrid embryos as well as mouse embryos in artificial wombs late into development. These biomedical breakthroughs raise different ethical quandaries.

Sahotra Sarkar, Professor of Philosophy and Integrative Biology, The University of Texas at Austin College of Liberal Arts • conversation
April 22, 2021 • ~9 min

Virgin births from parthenogenesis: How females from some species can reproduce without males

Parthenogenesis, a form of reproduction in which an egg develops into an embryo without being fertilized by sperm, might be more common than you realized.

Mercedes Burns, Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences, University of Maryland, Baltimore County • conversation
Dec. 15, 2020 • ~6 min

Signaling mechanism allows chaotic cells to self-organize

Researchers have discovered a key control mechanism that cells use to self-organize in early embryonic development.

Kevin Jiang • harvard
Oct. 2, 2020 • ~10 min

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