First three days of mouse embryo development observed through a new light miscroscope

Researchers at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Germany have developed a new light sheet microscope using which they have been able to view the earliest stages of cell division. Jan Ellenberg, who led the team, explained that the microscope enabled them to view how the first cell in a mouse embryo divided and developed into multiple cells to the stage where it is developed enough to get attached to the mother’s uterus. Using the microscope, they could track each cell’s family tree at it divided, at any given point. It was observed that at the stage when the embryo is a sphere made up of 8 cells, the next cell division is the most significant as it is the only one that is not random. One of the daughter cells forms towards the inside of the embryo and the cells on the inside follow this development and continue developing inside into an embryo. On the other hand, the other daughter cell that forms towards the outside directs cell division on the outside and they become part of the placenta. Ellenberg says that these developments, which are a part of the first three days of an embryo’s life, have been documented for the first time, and could help fertility experts in improving their treatments.

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