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 ...

Scientists have discovered a kind of “pause button” in early human development. This biological mechanism has long been known in other mammals, but its discovery in humans could aid IVF procedures.

New research suggests that exposure to a common “forever chemical” may interfere with the earliest stages of pregnancy. A new animal study suggests that perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), a chemical used ...

A lot happens in the first month of human embryo development as a single cell morphs into multitudes. Yet despite its significance, this period is basically a “black box” to researchers, says stem ...

Although scientists know a lot about the process of human embryo implantation, it had never been recorded in real time, until now. Now that investigators can observe it in action, they may be able to ...

A proposed international legal and ethical definition could address current challenges, with implications for improving IVF success rates. The ethical and legal challenges posed by embryology research ...

Endometrial thickness above 6 mm does not significantly correlate with clinical pregnancy or live birth rates in frozen embryo transfers.

The majority of fertilized eggs die and are resorbed into the body. ZEISS Microscopy/Flickr, CC BY-SA As an evolutionary biologist whose career has focused on how embryos develop in a wide variety of ...

Descriptions of the embryo go back at least to the time of Aristotle, but it has only been since the late 19 th century and early 20 th century that advances in experimental approaches allowed ...