Zygote

Week 1 Foundational Scientific Concepts (DNA)

Zygote - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zygote

A zygote (from Greek zygtos "joined" or "yoked", from zygoun "to join" or "to
yoke"), is a eukaryotic cell formed by a fertilization event between two gametes. The zygote's
genome is a combination of the DNA in each gamete, and contains all of the genetic information
necessary to form a new individual. In multicellular organisms, the zygote is the earliest
developmental stage. In single-celled organisms, the zygote can divide asexually by mitosis to
produce identical offspring.

Humans In human fertilization, a release ovum (a haploid secondary oocyte with replicate
chromosome copies) and a haploid sperm cell (male gamete)combine to form a single 2n
diploid cell called the zygote. Once the single sperm enters the oocyte, it completes the division
of the second meiosis forming a haploid daughter with only 23 chromosomes, almost all of the
cytoplasm, and the sperm in its own pronucleus. The other product of meiosis is the second
polar body with only chromosomes but no ability to replicate or survive. In the fertilized
daughter, DNA is then replicated in the two separate pronuclei derived from the sperm and
ovum, making the zygote's chromosome number temporarily 4n diploid. After approximately 30
hours from the time of fertilization, fusion of the pronuclei and immediate mitotic division
produce two 2n diploid daughter cells called blastomeres.

Between the stages of fertilization and implantation, the developing human is a preimplantation
conceptus. There is some dispute about whether this conceptus should no longer be referred to
as an embryo, but should now be referred to as a proembryo, which is terminology that
traditionally has been used to refer to plant life. Some ethicist and legal scholars make the
argument that it is incorrect to call the conceptus an embryo, because it will later differentiate
into both intraembryonic and extraembryonic tissues, and can even split to produce multiple
embryos (identical twins), while others have pointed out that, as so-called extraembryonic tissues
are really parts of the embryo's body that are no longer utilized after birth, much as milk teeth
fall out after childhood, and as the process of the embryo splitting to form identical twins leaves
the original intact, while generating a new embryo, rendering it no different from the process of
cloning an adult human. However, the National Institute of Health has made the determination
that the traditional classification of pre-implantation embryo is still correct.

After fertilization, the conceptus travels down the oviduct towards the uterus while continuing to
divide mitotically without actually increasing in size, in a process called cleavage. After four
divisions, the conceptus consists of 16 blastomeres, and it is known as the morula. Through the
processes of compaction, cell division, and blastulation, the conceptus takes the form of the

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blastocyst by the fifth day of development, just as it approaches the site of implantation. When
the blastocyst hatches from the zona pellucida, it can implant in the endometrial lining of the
uterus and begin the embryonic stage of development.

Embryo

An embryo is an early stage of development of a multicellular diploid eukaryotic organism. In

general, in organisms that reproduce sexually, an embryo develops from a zygote, the single cell
resulting from the fertilization of the female egg cell by the male sperm cell. The zygote
possesses half the DNA of each of its two parents. In plants, animals, and some protists, the
zygote will begin to divide by mitosis to produce a multicellular organism. The result of this
process is an embryo.

In humans, a pregnancy is generally considered to be in the embryonic stage of development

between the fifth and the eleventh weeks after fertilization, and is expressed as a fetus from the
twelfth week.

In animals, the development of the zygote into an embryo proceeds through specific recognizable
stages of blastula, gastrula, and organogenesis. The blastula stage typically features a fluid-filled
cavity, the blastocoel, surrounded by a sphere or sheet of cells, also called blastomeres. In a
placental mammal, an ovum is fertilized in a fallopian tube through which it travels into the
uterus. An embryo is called a fetus at a more advanced stage of development and up until birth
or hatching. In humans, this is from the eleventh week of gestation.