Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
The zygote is the earliest developmental stage. In humans and most other anisogamous organisms, a zygote is formed when an egg cell and sperm cell come together to create a new unique organism. The formation of a totipotent zygote with the potential to produce a whole organism depends on epigenetic reprogramming.
The genetic material of the sperm and egg then combine to form the single cell zygote and the germinal stage of development commences. Human embryonic development covers the first eight weeks of development, which have 23 stages, called Carnegie stages.
The blastula is usually a spherical layer of cells (the blastoderm) surrounding a fluid-filled or yolk-filled cavity the blastocoel. [citation needed] Mammals at this stage form a structure called the blastocyst, characterized by an inner cell mass that is distinct from the surrounding blastula.
The first cell division of a zygote is asymmetric, resulting in an embryo with one small cell (the apical cell) and one large cell (the basal cell). [22] The small, apical cell will eventually give rise to most of the structures of the mature plant, such as the stem, leaves, and roots. [23]
In biological terms, human development entails growth from a one-celled zygote to an adult human being. Fertilization occurs when the sperm cell successfully enters and fuses with an egg cell . [2] The genetic material of the sperm and egg then combine to form a single cell called a zygote and the germinal stage of prenatal development commences.
In biology, a biological life cycle (or just life cycle when the biological context is clear) is a series of stages of the life of an organism, that begins as a zygote, often in an egg, and concludes as an adult that reproduces, producing an offspring in the form of a new zygote which then itself goes through the same series of stages, the ...
As the zygote undergoes cell division to form two, then four, then eight and then 16 cells (typically by day four after fertilization), it becomes a ball of cells called a morula. During these cellular divisions, the zygote remains the same size, but the number of cells increase.
The male and female gametes combine to produce the zygote cell. In multicellular organisms, the zygote subsequently divides in an organised manner into smaller more specialised cells, so that this new individual develops into an embryo. In most animals, the embryo is the sessile initial stage of the individual life cycle, and is followed by the ...