(10b) Embryology and society.
In this article I write about something amazing in life: developmental biology (more specifically about human development although most apply also to other animals and even plants) and how out of two tiny cells an organism arises with billions of cells. I mention also briefly about the effects of our knowledge on society: new applications such as IVF and stem cell research or even gene therapy to cure genetic diseases. Science: embryology The cell: introduction Our bodies consist of two types of cells: reproductive cells or gametes and body cells or somatic cells . Somatic cells (e.g. liver cells, skin cells, nerve cells) are found all over our body except in the reproductive organs where in addition gametes are found: these are egg cells or ova ( ovum = one egg cell) in the ovaries of women and sperm cells or spermatozoa in the testes (balls) of men. Fig. 1. C ell with nucleus and chromosomes that consists of DNA. Eukaryotic cells (including human cel...