Shelby is an assistant editor for The Scientist. She earned her PhD from West Virginia University in immunology and microbiology and completed an AAAS Mass Media fellowship. View full profile. Learn ...

Two to three weeks after conception, an embryo faces a critical point in its development. In the stage known as gastrulation, the transformation of embryonic cells into specialized cells begins. This ...

The architecture of the body is not encoded as a formal blueprint; rather, it's the tightly orchestrated activation and ...

Biologists have provided new insights on a longstanding puzzle in biology: How complex organisms arise from a single fertilized cell. Producing a new 'gene atlas' with 4-D imaging, the researchers ...

A team of scientists at the MRC Laboratory of Medical Sciences (LMS) has uncovered a previously unknown mechanism that controls how genes are switched ‘on’ and ‘off’ during embryonic development.

Pregnant women rely on a balanced diet and supplements to deliver proper nutrients to their babies, to ensure they grow healthfully. Such nutrients contribute to fueling development and providing ...

Physical cues in the womb, and not just genetics, influence the normal development of neural crest cells, the embryonic stem cells that form facial features, finds a new study. Physical cues in the ...

In the earliest hours after fertilization, an embryo takes its first steps toward becoming a living organism by shedding maternal control and activating its own genetic program. This critical process, ...

The crustacean Parhyale hawaiensis (P. hawaiensis) organizes its cells in a grid-like pattern during embryo development, relying on grid patterning rather than chemical signals to dictate cell ...