A team of researchers at the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC) in Spain has succeeded, for the first time, in recording in real time and in 3D the implantation of a human embryo. This achievement opens up the possibility of investigating in greater depth the causes of infertility and discovering new assisted reproduction treatments.
Failure of embryo implantation in the uterus is one of the major barriers to pregnancy, and is associated with about 60 percent of miscarriages. This process, which occurs within days of a sperm fertilizing an egg, had, until recently, remained virtually invisible—implantation was only known from still images, and it wasn’t possible to follow its