1. Researchers have captured the most-detailed images yet of human embryos developing in real time, using two common laboratory tools — fluorescent dyes and laser microscopes. The technique, described in Cell on 5 July, allows researchers to study crucial events in the first few days of development without genetically altering the embryos, which has previously restricted the use of some imaging techniques in human embryos, owing to ethical concerns. “This is the first time we can actually image an early human embryo at the very early stages of development with cellular resolution,” says Nicolas Plachta, a cell biologist at University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia and a co-author of the paper. “We can see single cells and how they interact with each other as they form the pre-implantation embryo.” (Sources: nature.com, cell.com)
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to News Items to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.