GENERAL EMBRYOLOGY

Embryonic development of Human Body

4 Medical Science students
By: Merga S. (MSc)
Haramaya University, school of Medicine, Department of Anatomy

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 General embryology
OUTLINE
• Introduction to general embryology
• Developmental periods
• Significance of embryology
• Embryologic terminology
• weeks of embryonic development
• Embryonic folding
• intraembryonic cavity
• Developments of chorionic villi
• Development of early CVS

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 Introduction
Definition

• Embryology is a science that deals with the study of

formation & development of the fetus (Embryo) from
the day of its conception until the time when it is born as
an infant.

• Everyone of us are curious about our beginnings.

• The intricate processes by which a baby develops from a

single cell are miraculous. 6/3/2022 3
• Human development is a continuous process that

begins when an oocyte (ovum) from a female is fertilized

by a sperm (spermatozoon) from a male

• Cell division, cell migration, programmed cell death,

differentiation, growth, and cell rearrangement

transform the fertilized oocyte, a highly specialized,

totipotent cell, a zygote in to multicellular human being.

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DEVELOPMENTAL PERIODS
 It is customary to divide human development into prenatal (before
birth) and postnatal (after birth) periods.
 Prenatal period: before birth
• 38 weeks from conception to birth (average) “fetal” age
• Gynecologic timing has been from LMP therefore refers to 40 weeks
“gestational” age
 Pre embryonic period.
• Initiated by fertilization of ovum
 Embryonic” period: first 8 weeks, All major organs formed
 “Fetal” period: remaining 30 weeks
o Organs grow larger and become more complex and
differentiated

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 1. PRENATAL PERIOD
A. Pre-embryonic Period
• from fertilization to 7 days or more
• first week of development and second
• extend up to implantation of blastocyst
• May extend up to the end of third week
• ended by formation of embryonic disc

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 2. Embryonic Period –
• extend from 3rd to 8th week of dev’t.
• individual organs start to be formed
• also known as organogenesis
• the basic body plan is formed
• the most critical period of development
• many malformations occur in this period

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 3. Fetal Period
• extend from 9th week to birth

• characterized by maturation of tissue (organ)

• rapid growth of the body occurs

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 Post natal: after birth
o Important changes, in addition to growth, occur
after birth
• Although most developmental changes occur during
the embryonic and fetal periods, important changes
occur during later periods of development
• infancy, childhood, adolescence, and early adult hood
• Development does not stop at birth
• E.g. Developments of teeth and female breast
• The brain triples in weight b/n birth & 16 years;
most developmental changes are completed by the
age of 25

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 2. Postnatal period
• Period occurring after birth

• Infancy; refers to the earliest period of extra-uterine life,

roughly the first year after birth

• Childhood; is the period from approximately 13 months

until puberty

• Puberty; occurs usually between the ages of 12 and 15

years in girls and 13 and 16 years in boys
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 Postnatal cont’d…
• Adolescence; is the period from approximately 11
to 19 years of age, which is characterized by rapid
physical and sexual maturation.

• Adulthood; (L. adultus, grown up), attainment of full

growth and maturity, is generally reached between the
ages of 18 and 21 years

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 Subdivisions of Embryology
• Developmental anatomy:-study of normal dev’t
• Descriptive embryology:-deal with description of
changes
• Experimental embryology:-deals on factors that
influence dev’t
• Comparative embryology:-compares embryos of
different species
• Developmental physiology:-deal with changes of
structures in relation to function
• Teratology:-deals with abnormal dev’t
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 Significance of embryology
• Bridges the gap between prenatal development and
obstetrics, perinatal medicine, pediatrics, and clinical
anatomy.
• Develops knowledge concerning the beginnings of human
life and the changes occurring during prenatal development.

• Is of practical value in helping to understand the causes of

variations in human structure.

• Illuminates gross anatomy and explains how normal and

abnormal relations develop.
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 Embryologic terminology
The following terms are commonly used in discussions of
developing humans.

• Oocyte (L. ovum, egg). The female germ or sex cells are
produced in the ovaries. When mature, the oocytes are called
secondary oocytes or mature oocytes.

• Sperm (Gr. sperma, seed). The sperm, or spermatozoon,

refers to the male germ cell produced in the testes
(testicles).

• Numerous sperms (spermatozoa) are expelled from the

male urethra during ejaculation. 16
• Zygote. This cell results from the union of an oocyte
and a sperm during fertilization.  Totipotent
Pluripotent
multipotent
• A zygote or embryo is the beginning of a new human
being.

• Cleavage. This is the series of mitotic cell divisions

of the zygote that result in the formation of early
embryonic cells, blastomeres.

• The size of the cleaving zygote remains unchanged

because at each succeeding cleavage division, the
blastomeres become smaller.
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Morula (L. morus, mulberry).

• This solid mass of 12 to approximately 32

blastomeres is formed by cleavage of a zygote.

• The blastomeres change their shape and tightly align

themselves against each other to form a compact ball
of cells. This phenomenon, compaction, is probably
mediated by cell surface adhesion glycoproteins.

• The morula stage occurs 3 to 4 days after fertilization,

just as the early embryo enters the uterus.

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o Blastocyst (Gr. blastos, germ + kystis,
bladder).

• After 2 to 3 days, the morula enters the uterus

from the uterine tube (fallopian tube).

• Soon a fluid-filled cavity, the blastocystic

cavity, develops inside it. This change
converts the morula into a blastocyst.

• Its centrally located cells, the inner cell mass or

embryoblast (is the embryonic part of the
embryo) and the outer Trophoblast formed.

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Implantation.

• The process during which the blastocyst

attaches to the endometrium, the mucous
membrane or lining of uterus, and
subsequently embeds in it.

• The preimplantation period of embryonic

development is the time between fertilization
and the beginning of implantation, a period of
approximately 6 days.

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 Process of implantation

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 • Gastrula (Gr. gaster, stomach).
• During gastrulation (transformation of a
blastocyst into a gastrula), a three-layered or
trilaminar embryonic disc forms (third week).
• The three germ layers of the gastrula (ectoderm,
mesoderm, and endoderm) subsequently
differentiate into the tissues and organs of the
embryo.

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• Neurula (Gr. neuron, nerve). The early embryo during the third
and fourth weeks when the neural tube is developing from the
neural plate .------READ NTD

• It is the first appearance of the nervous system and the next

stage after the gastrula.

• Embryo (Gr. embryon).

• The developing human during its early stages of development.

The embryonic period extends to the end of the eighth week (56
days), by which time the beginnings of all major structures are
present.
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 • Conceptus (L. conceptio, derivatives of zygote).
• The embryo and its adnexa (L., appendages or adjunct parts)
or associated membranes (i.e., the products of conception).

• The conceptus includes all structures that develop from the

zygote, both embryonic and extra-embryonic.

• Hence, it includes the embryo, as well as the embryonic part

of the placenta and its associated membranes: amnion,
chorionic (gestational) sac, and umbilical vesicle or yolk sac

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• Primordium (L. primus, first + ordior, to begin). The
beginning or first discernible indication of an organ or
structure. The terms anlage and rudiment have similar
meanings. The primordium of the upper limb appears as
a bud on day 26.

• Fetus (L., unborn offspring). After the embryonic period

(8 weeks) and until birth, the developing human is called
a fetus. During the fetal period (ninth week to birth),
differentiation and growth of the tissues and organs
formed during the embryonic period occur.
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• Gestational Age
• it is difficult to determine exactly when fertilization
(conception) occurs because the process cannot be
observed in vivo (within the living body).

• Physicians calculate the age of the embryo or fetus from the

presumed first day of the last normal menstrual
period(LNMP).
• This is the gestational age, which is approximately 2 weeks
longer than the fertilization age because the oocyte is not
fertilized until approximately 2weeks after the preceding
menstruation.

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 • Teratology is the division of embryology and
pathology that deals with abnormal development
(birth defects).
This branch of embryology is concerned with
various genetics and/or environmental factors that
disturb normal development and produce birth
defect.

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 Trimester
• A period of three calendar months during a pregnancy
• obstetricians commonly divide the 9-month period of
gestation into three trimesters

The most critical stages of development occur during

the first trimester (13 weeks) when embryonic and
early fetal development is occurring

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 Trimester of pregnancy

1st trimester = 1-3month

2nd trimester = 4-6 month

3rd trimester = 7-9 month

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 • Developmental anatomy
• is the field of embryology concerned with the changes
that cells, tissues, organs and the body as a whole undergo
from a germ cell each parent to the resulting adult

• It includes embryology , fetology, postnatal dev’t.

• Prenatal development is more rapid than postnatal

development and results in more striking changes

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 Sexual Reproduction
• Overview :
• Reproductive system – male and female
• Two types of cell division
• Vast potential for variation
• Basis for evolution
• Requires special cells:
gametes
• Spermatozoa
• Ova(Oöcytes)

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The male reproductive system
– A pair of testes
– Epididymis
– Vas deferens
– Urethra
– Seminiferous gland
– Scrotum
– penis
– Prostate gland
– Bulbo urethral gland

BY Merga S. Reproductive system

The organs of reproduction of women are classified as either
external or internal
• External genitalia (collectively referred to as vulva)=
pudenda
– labia majora , mons pubis, vestibule, hymen
– labia minora
– Clitoris, urethral opening, vaginal opening
• Internal genitalia
– ova producing organs
• Ovaries ,
– ducts/organs
• uterine (fallopian) tubes
• Uterus
• vagina

BY Merga S.
INTERNAL ORGANS
• Ovaries
• Female gonads
• 2 small almond-shaped glands
• measures about 3 cm long, 1.5 cm wide, and 1
cm thick.
• Its capsule, like that of the testis, is called
the tunica albuginea.
nestled in the ovarian fossa
– a depression in the dorsal pelvic
wall/fossa ovarica.
• Contains thousands of small sacs called
follicles.

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 • divided into:
• an outer cortex,
– where the germ cells develop, and
– the ova and graafian follicles are located
• a central medulla
– occupied by the major arteries and veins
– composed of loose connective tissue

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 Fallopian tube
• More commonly called the fallopian
tubes, the oviducts vary in length
from 8 to 14 cm.

• They are covered by peritoneum,

and their lumen is lined by mucous
membrane.

BY Merga S. Reproductive system

• 4 parts
– Interstitial part- very narrow.
– Isthmus
– Ampulla: the widest, tortuous,
thin walled outer part.
– Infundibulum: opens into the
peritoneal cavity
– ostuim is surrounded by
fimbriae (longest fimbria
ovarica).

BY Merga S. Reproductive system

 UTERUS
• The non-pregnant uterus:
• is situated in the pelvic cavity
• between the bladder anteriorly and
the rectum posteriorly.
• Almost the entire posterior wall of the
uterus is covered by serosa, or
peritoneum
• the lower portion of which forms the
anterior boundary of the recto-uterine
cul-de-sac, or pouch of Douglas

BY Merga S. Reproductive system

• Histology of the Uterus
1. Endometrium
– Simple columnar epithelium
– Stroma of connective tissue and
endometrial glands
• Functional layer
– Shed during menstruation
• Basal layer
– Replaces functional layer
each month

BY Merga S. Reproductive system

2. Myometrium
• 3 layers of smooth
muscle
• produce the labor
contractions that help
to expel the fetus.

BY Merga S. Reproductive system

3. Perimetrium
=Visceral peritoneum
– outermost layer
consisting of
elastic but tough
connective tissue
• similar to the
visceral
peritoneum

BY Merga S. Reproductive system

 Cell division

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 Normal cell division
A. somatic cell division:-
single stranded cell called parent cell
• daughter cell:- consists of nuclear division called
mitosis plus a cytoplasmic division called cytokinesis

B. Reproductive cell:-
• by which sperm and egg cell reproduced nuclear division
called meiosis and cytokinesis.

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 Mitosis
• Mitosis, is the process by which a cell divides into two
daughter cells with identical copies of its DNA.
• (Some define it as division of the nucleus only and do not
include the subsequent cell division.)
• Mitosis has four main functions:
1. formation of a multicellular embryo from a fertilized egg;
2. tissue growth;
3. replacement of old and dead cells; and
4. repair of injured tissues.

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 Meiosis
• The form of cell division by which gametes, with
half the number of chromosomes, are produced.

• Diploid (2n)  Haploid (n)

• Two divisions (Meiosis I and Meiosis II).

• Occurs only in gonads (testes or ovaries).

Male: Spermatogenesis
Female: Oogenesis

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 Thank you
for your attention!