Developmental biologists have been driven to investigate growth factor signaling in embryos in order to understand the regulatory mechanisms underlying a given developmental process. Thus, it is critical to explore the technical methods and experimental designs for growth factor signaling in embryos.

Focusing on specific pathways or pathway components, Analysis of Growth Factor Signaling in Embryos provides the methods and guidelines for experimental design to study major aspects of cell signaling in vertebrate embryos. The book covers a broad range of topics in signaling and a variety of current model organisms. Section I explores specific signaling pathways or pathway components. In this section, some chapters highlight the biochemistry of signaling pathways during development, which is often distinctive from that observed in cell culture systems. Section II discusses ionic regulatory mechanisms and the two chapters in Section III examine ways of investigating gene regulation in response to extracellular signals. Finally, Section IV addresses emerging strategies that facilitate integrated analyses of cell signaling" in vivo" in embryonic systems.

Featuring contributions from expert researchers, Analysis of Growth Factor Signaling in Embryos will provide a foundation for further explorations of the cellular regulatory mechanisms governing vertebrate embryonic development.

'This book is an absolute game-changer' - Dr Xand Van Tulleken 'Everyone concerned about their fertility should read this book' - Dr Raj Mathur, Chair of the British Fertility Society The book you can trust to help you achieve a healthy pregnancy. Whether you are trying for a baby now or preparing for a family in future, The Fertility Book is the no-nonsense guide you need to help you to optimize your chances of a healthy pregnancy. World-renowned fertility consultant Adam Balen and reproductive biologist Grace Dugdale dispel the myths in this comprehensive guide to reproductive health, explaining in easy-to-understand terms the genetic and lifestyle factors at play. They take an honest look at the evidence for both conventional and alternative approaches, equipping you with powerful tools to improve your chances of a natural conception and an understanding of how to create the best environment for a healthy pregnancy. If you do decide to seek help through assisted conception, this book will be with you every step of the way, explaining what treatments are available and how to approach them, so that you can come to an informed decision about what is right for you. Professor Adam Balen and Grace Dugdale have decades of experience helping couples on their journey to conception and beyond. Now in this, their first book for a general readership, they explain everything you need to know to understand your own fertility.

Since the first "test tube baby" was born over 40 years ago, In Vitro Fertilization and other Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ARTs) have advanced in extraordinary ways, producing millions of babies. An estimated 20% of American couples use infertility services to help them conceive, and that number is growing. Such technologies permit thousands of people, including gay and lesbian couples and single parents, to have offspring. Couples can now transmit or avoid passing on certain genes to their children, including those for chronic disease and, probably sometime soon, height and eye color as well. Prospective parents routinely choose even the sex of their future child and whether or not to have twins. The possibilities of this rapidly developing technology are astounding-especially in the United States, where the procedures are practically unregulated and a large commercial market for buying and selling human eggs is swiftly growing. New gene-editing technology, known as CRISPR, allows for even more direct manipulation of embryos' genes. As these possibilities are increasingly realized, potential parents, doctors, and policy-makers face complex and critical questions about the use-or possible misuse-of ARTs. Designing Babies confronts these questions, examining the ethical, social, and policy concerns surrounding reproductive technology. Based on in-depth interviews with providers and patients, Robert Klitzman explores how individuals and couples are facing quandaries of whether, when, and how to use ARTs. He articulates the full range of these crucial issues, from the economic pressures patients face to the moral and social challenges they encounter as they make decisions which will profoundly shape the life of their offspring. In doing so, he reveals the broader social and biological implications of controlling genetics, ultimately arguing for closer regulation of procedures which affect the lives of generations to come and the future of our species as a whole.