Embryos

The embryos and fetuses of all mammals look quite similar.

The cloning of human embryos is prohibited by law.

By deactivating certain genes, scientists were able to grow chicken embryos with dinosaur snouts instead of beaks.

Britain's fertility regulator has granted its first license for the genetic modification of human embryos for research into the causes of infertility and miscarriages.

Those taken from days-old embryos, called embryonic stem cells, are more malleable than stem cells from adults, and can transform into cells in every tissue and organ in the body.

Loggerhead turtles in Australia nest on open beaches where the temperature of the sand must be between 25 and 33 degrees for their embryos to develop successfully.

The process of stem cell activation is the same as seen in embryos to stimulate organ growth, according to gerontology professor Valter Longo, the director of USC's Longevity Institute and senior author of both studies. He said the fasting-mimicking diet can be used to reprogram cells without any genetic alterations.

The future of parenting may see a big change as scientists and ethicists have a startling prediction about how children will be conceived in the future. Thanks to biomedical advances, parents may be able to choose a child from hundreds of embryos based on their DNA profile.

The new method uses proteins from mushrooms. The proteins are called lectins. The lectins cause an animal's own defense system to release chemicals that fight the parasites. Mushroom lectin is injected into chicken embryos. The lectin is also added to drinking water for chickens.

In addition to preserving seeds, the USDA's National Center for Genetic Resources Preservation recently began storing the frozen embryos of important or rare species of livestock, another genetic treasure imperiled by human activities.