Embryology is the process of turning two cells: sperm and egg into a human.

During ovulation, the secondary oocyte is expelled from the ovary and the fimbriae of the oviduct
suck in the oocyte. The uterine duct takes in the egg. The uterine duct has muscles that result in a
peristaltic like movement that moves the oocyte down the tube and into the uterus. The ciliated
epithelium also move the oocyte down the tract.

On day 0, fertilisation occurs in the ampulla. 1% of sperm ejected enters the cervix and ends up in
the ampulla, the contractions of the uterine muscles propel the sperm to this area. The sperm
penetrates the egg. The sperm and the egg fuse, forming a zygote, so the egg completes meiosis 2.

On day 1 cleavage occurs and the cell divides into two cells, the cell is now called the blastomere.
Cleavage is splitting without growth.

On day 2, the two cells turn into 4 cells.

On day 3 a morula forms it is a small mass of around 16 cells.

On day 6, there is a blastocyst formed. The morula still has a zona pellucida around it and this
contains the cells. Compaction occurs where the cells in the morula get closer to each other.
The cells begin to differentiate, resulting in an outer cell mass (trophoblast) and an inner cell mass
(embryoblast). Fluid fills the morula to form a cavity. The embryoblast cells cluster at one end which
results in the cavity, the blastocoel. The cell is now a blastocyst and blastulation has occurred. The
zona pellucida starts to degrade.

On the next day, day 7, implantation occurs. The trophoblast cells invade the endometrium and the
uterine epithelium, they are implanting into the uterus.

On days 8-10, the trophoblast has differentiated and forms the syncytiotrophoblast and the
cytotrophoblast. The syncytiotrophoblast released hcG and is important for hormonal control. The
syncytiotrophoblast is the outer layer and the cytotrophoblast is the inner layer. The embryoblast
forms two layers on day 9. The top layer of columnar epithelial cells is the epiblast, the lower layer is
the hypoblast. The first cavity at the top is the amniotic cavity and the bottom is known as the yolk
sac.

The epiblast that is part of the inner cell mass, a primitive streak develops, it is similar to a crease.
Cells move into and under this primitive streak and begin to build up in the middle. The epiblast cells
dislocate the hypoblast to form the endoderm at the bottom, the mesoderm and then the
ectoderm. The hypoblast is displaced and becomes the yolk sac. This formation of the germ layers is
gastrulation, from a bilaminar disc to a trilaminar disc. The epiblast forms all three germ layers.

With time the neural fold will form and neural crest cells are collected at the top of each crest along
the ectoderm. As it folds, it will pinch inwards and the neural crest cells will gather around the
neural tube. The neural tube forms the brain and spinal cord, the neural crest is the peripheral
nervous system.

The mesoderm has three main components, the one nearest to the neural tube is the paraxial
mesoderm and gives rise to somite's such as skeletal muscles.

The middle bulb-like part is the intermediate mesoderm and this gives rise to the gonads and
kidneys.
Finally there are two lateral plates: the somatic and the splanchnic. The splanchnic will become the
heart and the circulatory system. The endoderm forms the gastrointestinal tube. The ectoderm will
become the skin or epidermis.