BEIJING, April 14 (Xinhua) -- Researchers from China and the United States have developed a system to achieve real-time observation of developing mouse embryos.
Mammalian embryo development is a complex process. Methods like ultrasound and MRI cannot enable the observation of the process at a cellular level. In recent years, systems were developed to culture embryos in vitro for 24 to 48 hours. But researchers have been exploring ways to observe the dynamic process of embryo development from umbilical cord formation to birth.
Researchers from Xi'an Jiaotong University, Duke University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology reported in the journal Science that they implanted an imaging window to the mouse uterus to visualize the developing embryo from embryonic day 9.5 to birth.
The technology, called intravital imaging, allows the observation of the biological process in live animals at a high resolution. The researchers observed neurotransmission and cell division in the brain, autophagy in the retina, viral gene delivery, and chemical diffusion through the placenta.
Huang Qiang, the first and corresponding author of the research, said the study, for the first time, visualized the process of mammalian embryo development from cord formation to birth, opening the window to a broad range of studies.
