Women aged over 35 are sometimes offered genetic testing of their IVF embryos to rule out abnormalities. But it's expensive and doesn't increase their chance of a baby. In fact, it could reduce it.
Men have nipples because of a quirk in how embryos develop. But that’s only part of the story of this seemingly redundant body part.
from www.shutterstock.com
Problems in facial development can occur with the skull, face, blood vessels, muscles, jaws and teeth. But it's the hard palate forming the roof of your mouth that's most commonly affected.
Altering the genomes of embryonic cells is illegal in Australia.
from www.shutterstock.com.au
A landmark study in the UK discovered the gene that allows cells to form into embryos. If Australian researchers attempted this they could go to jail for 15 years.
Human eight cell embryo for IVF selection.
K. Hardy, Wellcome Images
Two researchers are impressed with a pioneering study showing that it may be both safe and effective to edit out diseases in human embryos.
Society has long treated people with extra limbs as anatomical oddities. But having an extra body part or organ is surprisingly common and many people don’t know they have them.
Ddicksson/Wikimedia Commons
Taking the placenta as a case study, researchers are able to piece together how new organs evolve, by repurposing old tissues and using them to do new jobs.
Researchers at a fertility clinic in Athens appear to have reversed the menopause in a small group of women – but will the science stand up to scrutiny?
Visiting Professor in Biomedical Ethics, Murdoch Children's Research Institute; Distinguished Visiting Professor in Law, University of Melbourne; Uehiro Chair in Practical Ethics, University of Oxford