The mystery of early embryonic communication is starting to be unraveled thanks to a new stem cell-based model.

Precursor cells in the embryonic neural tube are organized in a specific striped pattern which depends on the signals they receive (left). Lehr and colleagues recreated this pattern in a cell culture ...

On the outside, you’ll watch your little one grow from newborn to older infant to toddler, preschooler, kindergartener, and so on. It might feel like it goes by in the blink of an eye. But a little ...

Researchers at The University of Queensland have for the first time captured images and video in real time of early embryonic development to understand more about congenital birth defects. Dr Melanie ...

When the zygote, or the fertilised egg, starts to develop, the soon forming inner cell mass, a cluster of cells that will eventually develop into the individual, retains its pluripotent stem cell ...

Early brain development is a biological black box. While scientists have devised multiple ways to record electrical signals in adult brains, these techniques don’t work for embryos. A team at Harvard ...

A project at University College London (UCL) and the University of Padua has created mechanical force sensors directly in the developing brains and spinal cords of chicken embryos. Published in Nature ...

Growing up in Brazil, Marcos Simões-Costa often visited his grandparents’ farm in the Amazon. That immersion in nature — squawking toucans and all — sparked his fascination with science and evolution.

Anencephaly is a type of neural tube defect. During pregnancy, your baby's brain and spine start to form as a flat disk of cells. This flat disk rolls into a tube-like structure called the neural tube ...