nature in a

experiment i really know yet why is blight so far like it sounds so simple they had no idea but now the data's

i find this not only refreshing but but at some level astounding nature

welcome back to the Nature.

Welcome back to the nature podcast. This week, modelling early embryos...

And the prevalence of male-dominated conferences.

I'm Benjamin Thompson.

And I'm Charmany Bundell.

I'm Charmany Bandell.

First up, reporter Nick Howe has been looking into the development of embryos.

Scientists have got a pretty good idea of what goes on during the nine months of pregnancy. But for the very early stages, like when the embryo implants into the wall of the uterus, the so-called peri-implantation

stage, not much is known. Implantation of human embryos into the lining of the uterus is a really mysterious process.

It's very difficult to study.

And this just happens to be the time in embryonic development

where the cell types that will ultimately become the adult cells in a body

will start to specializeise and differentiate.

And we know very little about that process in humans.

This is Amanda Clark, a stem cell biologist who researches early human development.

To better understand this mysterious stage, scientists use two main strategies. One is to use early stage human embryos

that have come from in vitro fertilization clinics and have been consented for use in research.

But these samples are rare and due to current ethical guidelines, these embryos cannot be

grown in the lab for longer than 14 days.

...