#151 The Fundamental Stage of Human Development: Embryo Implantation (English)

The Fundamental Stage of Human Development: Embryo Implantation
[Science Daily: New method allows first look at key stage of human development, embryo implantation]

Embryo implantation indicates the arrival of the of the blastocyst on the functional layer of endometrium after 5 days after ovulation or fertilization as the result of the coordination between ovulation and endometrial development.

A human embryo 12 days after fertilization in vitro
Copyright. The Rockefeller University

Despite significant development in the biomedical field, the mechanism of the molecular and cellular processes in human development that occurs 14 days after fertilization was a conundrum. In fact, Ali Brivanlou, head of the Laboratory of Stem Cell Biology, coined the blastocyst as "a complete black box". However, the scientists in the Rockfeller University successfully realized the process of implantation in the laboratory from creating the optimum chemical environment for the blastocysts, which provided the appropriate scaffolding for the implementation to occur. As a result, scientists were to attain the opportunity to solve such riddles like early pregnancy loss, which is like "sheding light inside that box".

The implantation process that occurred outside the human uterus demonstrated things beyond what scientists expected. In fact, this process confirmed the variations between species owing to the different development compared to the model system that was based on mouse embryology. Also, the scientists observed the staggering phenomenon called self-organization. For instance, the water molecules would form a symmetrical shape without any external force, which is definitely going against the nature of increasing antropy. Although self-organization do occur in human embryonic stem cells, it is to be discovered in virtue of this experiment that self-organization appear in the context of a whole human embryo. Thus, human embryo can develop in the complete absence of maternal input for the first 12 days, and this observation controverts to the preexisting theory that implantation is triggered by molecular crosstalk.

It is a promising experiment as it complied with the international bioethical guidelines. In fact, this experiment provided the scaffolding for the reexamination of the 14-day limitation rule to be varied based on the different types of embryo research and their pros and cons. Moreover, the Rockefeller research team laid emphasis on the importance to educate the public and abide by the ethical consensus when proceeding this research. The successful materialization of the human embryo implantation process in an experimental setting is evidently going to act as a catalyst in grasping the causes of the disorders such as early pregnancy losses and birth defects.

New method allows first look at key stage of human development, embryo implantation. Science daily. Rockfeller University. 4 May, 2016. Web. 8 May, 2016
<https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/05/160504141444.htm>
Mescher, AL. Junqueira's Basic Histology: Text and Atlas, 12th Edition. The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Web. 8 May, 2016 <https://www.accessmedicine.com>

KSJ