Embryo - by Alfonso Martinez Arias (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

Groundbreaking discoveries in reproductive biology and regenerative medicine are reshaping our ideas of conception, fertility, and the origins of disease. In Embryo, world-leading developmental biologist Alfonso Martinez Arias traces the embryo's formation over its first fifty days while exploring how new technologies are changing how we view our origins, ourselves, and our future.

The events that shape our lives happen in secret, inside our mother's wombs, but Martinez Arias's research with stem cells has laid them all out in the open. His work has shown that during the first fifty days after conception, a blueprint is created through a conversation between genes and cells in which the cells, not the genes, dictate what happens next. Many diseases have their origins during these early days and research has opened the door to their cure. But it has also opened a Pandora's box of ethical questions associated with whether we should allow the genetic modification of embryos, or what would happen if we are to create a human being in the laboratory. What exactly are we doing? How far should we take this research? Beyond establishing new paths for the study of human development, Martinez Arias is also a vocal advocate on the need to address outstanding issues of the ethical and legal aspects of human embryology. This brilliant and breath-taking book tackles these existential questions by revealing the cutting-edge developments happening at the frontier of development biology, from In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) and artificial wombs to the impact of stem cells, three-parent babies, CRISPR, and the potential for lab-grown embryos.

Embryo tells the story that raises these urgent questions and looks into a future that a few years ago would have sounded like science fiction. It is a definitive account of the state-of-the-art in our understanding of the earliest stages of our existence, brought to life through vivid stories blending scientific discovery, history, and real people.

Review Quotes

"In this riveting new book, master storyteller and renowned development biologist Alfonso Martinez Arias takes readers on a voyage of discovery as he reveals the complexity and beauty of the first fifty days of human life. Weaving together historical events and contemporary controversies, Martinez Arias tackles not only the science, but also the ethical issues and regulatory considerations raised by embryo research. Embryo is a must-read for anyone who has ever pondered 'when does life begin.'"--Megan Munsie, Phd, Stem Cell Ethics & Policy Leader at Murdoch Children's Research Institute and Professor at the University of Melbourne, Australia

"For over four decades, Alfonso Martinez-Arias has been one of our leading researchers on the science of embryos, the tiny cluster of cells that hold the beginnings of us all. In Embryo, he shows how our bodies are not engineered blueprints but living testaments to hundreds of millions of years of cellular tinkering. This book is a profound scientific exploration that reveals our embryonic development is not a single event, but a magnificent act of becoming that we share with the rest of the animal world." --Neil Shubin, Professor at the University of Chicago and bestselling author of Ends of the Earth and Your Inner Fish among others

"Through historical vignettes, scientific explanations, and consideration of social and ethical issues, developmental biologist Martinez Arias explains in this valuable and easily accessible book that becoming a human being requires gradual emergence through developmental stages and does not occur at one particular moment. Pointing with rich insight to new exciting work including his own on stem cells and gastruloids, he wisely calls for thoughtful regulation of embryo studies 'to ensure that high research standards go hand in hand with ethical discourse.'" --Jane Maienschein, University Professor and Director of the Center for Biology and Society at Arizona State University and author of Whose View of Life? and Embryos Under the Microscope, among others

About the Author

Alfonso Martinez Arias PhD is a world-leading developmental biologist. He is currently ICREA Research Professor in the Department of Medicine and Life Sciences of the Universitat Pompeu Fabra, in Barcelona, Spain. Prior to that, he was Professor of Developmental Mechanics at the University of Cambridge. For the last twenty years his research has focused on using embryonic stem cells (ESCs) to explore their potential to build embryos. Martinez Arias is regularly quoted and covered as a scientist at the forefront of developmental biology and human embryology, and delivers keynote speeches at conferences around the world. He is the author of The Master Builder.