Now in our 13th year of bringing you beautiful imagery from biomedical science every day

Search the archive of over 4000 images

Right First Time

The first cell division in embryo development is slow and error-prone

07 September 2020

Right First Time

We all make mistakes in our lives. But making mistakes at the very earliest stages of life, when an embryo is just a few cells, can have a devastating impact. Problems with cell division during these crucial first days can lead to embryo cells ending up with the wrong amount of genetic material (chromosomes), leading to infertility, miscarriage or birth defects. To understand more about what’s going on, researchers have developed a technique to spy on these very early cell divisions in human embryos donated by women undergoing fertility treatment. They’ve discovered that the first cell division, when a fertilised egg splits from one cell into two (shown here), can take several hours to complete and often goes wrong. However, the second division from two cells to four is much more accurate, suggesting that getting the very first cell division right is probably the most crucial moment of our lives.

Written by Kat Arney

Search The Archive

Submit An Image

Follow on Tumblr

Follow on Instagram

What is BPoD?

BPoD stands for Biomedical Picture of the Day. Managed by the MRC Laboratory of Medical Sciences until Jul 2023, it is now run independently by a dedicated team of scientists and writers. The website aims to engage everyone, young and old, in the wonders of biology, and its influence on medicine. The ever-growing archive of more than 4000 research images documents over a decade of progress. Explore the collection and see what you discover. Images are kindly provided for inclusion on this website through the generosity of scientists across the globe.

Read More

BPoD is also available in Catalan at www.bpod.cat with translations by the University of Valencia.