Human embryos can be studied during the first 14 days after fertilization outside the womb
Q. Human embryos are also studied outside the maternal womb. How much is the time limit for studying them outside the womb?- Published on 10 May 16a. 7 days
b. 6 weeks
c. 14 days
d. 1 month
ANSWER: 14 days
- In a major breakthrough in human embryology, researchers have breached the 7-day limit to studying human embryos outside the maternal womb.
- The improved techniques employed by them in nurturing the “blastocyte,” a small hollow ball of cells formed after fertilization of the egg by the sperm in the lab, allowed them to study the molecular and cellular development that occurs during the first 14 days after fertilization.
- Being able to clinically observe the blastocyte beyond seven days is important because this is the time when the blastocyte normally attaches itself to the mother’s womb in a process termed implantation.
- Over the next few days, the blastocyte undergoes a differentiation process into three basic cell layers (called gastrulation) from which the bodily structures of the embryo, and, eventually, the individual, are derived.
