Preembryo in context of human development[edit]

A preembryo is a human conceptus at least between fertilization and implantation, and is known too
as a proembryo.[3] A conceptus between fertilization and implantation is also frequently classified as
an embryo.[3]
Even after implantation begins, a preembryo (and proembryo) may exist up until formation of
the primitive streak.[4] Implantation begins at about six days after fertilization, and lasts for about a
week, during which time formation of the primitive streak occurs.[5]
Use of the terms preembryo and proembryo, in the context of human development, has drawn
criticism from opponents of embryo research, and from scientists who have considered this
categorization invalid or unnecessary.[2][6][7] One rationale that has been advanced for distinguishing
an early fertilized human conceptus from an embryo is that there is a potential for the conceptus to
split into identical twins prior to implantation, and so (the argument goes) the conceptus cannot be
regarded before implantation as a single human being. However, the conceptus before implantation
exhibits self-actuated activity, which has led to the assertion that it is an embryo.[8] Further, identical
twinning is an instance of asexual reproduction whereby a conceptus, without ceasing to be what it
is (a new human being), provides a cell or cells as a new conceptus, entirely separated or partially
separated (a 'siamese' twin) from the original conceptus, but in any event self-actuated in its
development from the moment that the act of asexual reproduction (twinning) is complete. By this
asexual reproduction, the parents of the original conceptus in effect become grandparents to the
identical twin so conceived.
In the United States, a report by the National Institutes of Health stated that a conceptus could be
both a pre-implantation embryo and a pre-embryo at the same time.[9]However, Ann Kiessling (a
leader in stem cell research) has written that those categories are inaccurate.[10]