What is Embryology?
Embryology is the specialty that studies the formation and development of the embryo until its birth. Its development begins with fertilization, which leads to the formation of the zygote. Once the process in which the main structures and organs of the embryo are generated is completed, which is during the first month, the embryo will be called fetus.
Embryology provides different knowledge about the beginning of human life and the modifications that occur during prenatal development. It is useful in helping to understand the causes of variations in human structure and provides insight into normal development and malformations.
What diseases does Embryology treat?
Embryology recognizes most congenital disorders or malformations that the embryo may suffer in order to correct them if possible and allow normal development.
Some of the pathologies that can be detected during the formation of the embryo are: congenital diaphragmatic hernia, bladder and cloacal exstrophy, grastoschisis, cardiac ectopia, capillary hemangiomas and spina bifida, among others.
Embryology helps to detect possible malformations in the fetus.
What are the subspecialties within Embryology?
Teratology deals with the abnormal development of the fetus. This specialty is related to the various genetic or environmental factors that alter normal development and produce congenital effects.
Comparative embryology is in charge of comparing the embryos of living beings, chemistry provides chemical bases to otogenetic development and modern embryology complements several disciplines such as genetics, medicine and biochemistry.
Developmental biology is the part of Embryology that studies the morphological changes that occur in cells, tissues and organs from the germ cell of each progenitor to its successor, thus going beyond the prenatal stage. And developmental physiology explains the functioning of the organism at these stages.
When to go to an Embryology specialist?
It is a specialty within Assisted Reproduction, so the embryologist will perform his work when a patient comes to undergo treatment in assisted reproduction and the expert considers it appropriate to work with the embryologist or refer the case if he detects that the embryo may suffer some pathology or malformation, for example.