Babies Born After Freeze-Thawing Embryos Do Just As Well Regardless Of Whether They Were Created Via ICSI Or Standard IVF
Analysis of the longest running ICSI programme in the United States has found reassuring evidence that babies born from frozen embryos fertilised via ICSI do just as well as those born from frozen embryos fertilised via standard IVF treatment.

Difference Between Fish And Humans: Century-Old Developmental Question Answered
Embryologists at UCL (University College London) have helped solve an evolutionary riddle that has been puzzling scientists for over a century.

For Different Species, Different Functions For Embryonic MicroRNAs
When evolution has lucked into efficient solutions for life’s most fundamental problems, it adopts them as invaluable family heirlooms, passing them down as one species evolves into another

New Test Can Detect Both Genetic And Chromosomal Abnormalities In Embryos
Scientists announced that an embryo test they have been developing has successfully screened cells taken from spare embryos that were known to have cystic fibrosis.

First Evidence That Female Human Embryos Adjust The Balance Of X
Dutch researchers have found the first evidence that a process of inactivating the X chromosome during embryo development and implantation does, in fact, take place in human female embryos prior to implantation in the womb.

Increased Prevalence Of Left-Handedness Found In Children With Facial Development Disorder
A new study by physician researchers from Hasbro Children's Hospital and Children's Hospital Boston has identified an increased prevalence in left-handedness in children with a congenital disorder known as hemifacial microsomia (HFM).

How Embryos Differentiate Left From Right
Researchers at the Forsyth Institute have discovered a new mechanism responsible for early left/right patterning, the process by which organs locate themselves on the left or right side of the body.

Gene Family Found to Play Key Role in Early Stages of Development
Scientists have identified a gene family that plays a key role in one of the earliest stages of development in which an embryo distinguishes its left side from the right and determines how organs should be positioned within the body.

Embryonic Stem Cells Are Identifiable By Appearance Alon
Some scientific results are hard to spot, especially in genetic research. Often scientists are unable to physically see if the gene they inserted into a cell has produced the desired trait.

How Does Embryo's Pancreas 'Know' Which Cells Are to Produce Insulin?
How does the developing pancreas in an embryo 'know' which cells are to produce insulin and which cells are to have other assignments?

Gene Variants May Determine Lung Function and Susceptibility to Maternal Smoking
A tiny variation within a single gene can determine not only how quickly and well lungs grow and function in children and adolescents, but how susceptible those children will be to exposure to second-hand tobacco smoke, even in utero.

Mosaic analysis of stem cell function and wound healing in the mouse corneal epithelium
The mouse corneal epithelium is a continuously renewing 5–6 cell thick protective layer covering the corneal surface, which regenerates rapidly when injured.

Making a face: A new and earlier marker of neural crest development
The fate of cells that go on to form the face, skull and nerve centers of the head and neck in vertebrates is determined much earlier in development than previously thought, and is independent of interaction with other forming tissues

A crucial role for TGFbeta signaling in congenital eye disorders
The lens in the developing eye acts as a TGFbeta signaling center that controls differentiation, survival and formation of multiple eye structures deriving from the neural crest.

Large DNA stretches, not single genes, shut off as cells mature
Epigenetic finding adds insight on how cells become brain, liver -- and malignant

First evidence that prenatal exposure to famine may lead to persistent epigenetic changes
A study suggests that prenatal exposure to famine can lead to epigenetic changes that may affect a person's health into midlife.

Concerns raised over policy to add folic acid to flour
A UK Department of Health committee has now recommended universal fortification of flour with folic acid to reduce the level of neural tube defects. Yet researchers warn that we need to be cautious before introducing such a policy.

Scientists discover why teeth form in a single row
Same study uncovers how each tooth signals the next to start growing

Fortifying food with folic acid benefits babies
Adding folic acid to food can dramatically reduce the incidence of spina bifida and other birth defects.

DNA gene chips and novel software used to describe kidney development
The step-by-step development of a mammalian kidney, from its early beginnings in the embryo to its adult role as a vital filtration system, has been described by UCSD School of Medicine researchers