Mother’s Touch

Fragile but full of life, an early embryo must embed in the womb or perish. Attempts to watch the vital process of implantation are often obscured by layers of tissue – but here scientists have found another way. Keeping a mouse embryo alive in nourishing hydrogel inside a microfluidic device, they use live cell imaging to watch as the embryonic cells (highlighted in green) grow arm-like trophoblast giant cells, reaching out for the lining of endothelial cells, similar to those found along the womb’s blood vessels. As the trophoblast makes contact, researchers find the embryo switches on genes to adapt to its new home, connecting up with the blood vessels and finding protection in the soft layers. This living model for implantation may now be used to study the crucial steps in early pregnancy, perhaps revealing ways to guide the process in humans and avoid early miscarriage.

Written by John Ankers

John Ankers

Writer

A former researcher in systems biology, John is now an online biology tutor and professional coach supporting the wellbeing of scientists and NHS professionals. He's writing, too, of course.

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• Video from work by Niraimathi Govindasamy and colleagues
• Embryonic Self-Organization research group, Max Planck Institute for Molecular Biomedicine, Münster, Germany
• Video copyright Elsevier 2021. Reproduced with permission.
• Published in Developmental Cell, November 2021