Topic description and stories

From exploring ancient ideas of generation to understanding new frontiers in fertility, Cambridge researchers are working across disciplines to study reproduction from multiple perspectives.

"Reproduction matters to us all": latest issue of Horizons magazine

20 November 2020

Professor Kathy Niakan talks about why it’s vital to take a multidisciplined approach to understanding the urgent challenges posed by reproduction today – and introduces our Spotlight on some of this work, highlighted in the latest issue of Cambridge's Horizons magazine.

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Workhouse Women in St. Giles's Church by Charles Holroyd (1880-84). ©Trustees of the British Museum

Historian uncovers new evidence of 18th century London's 'Child Support Agency'

26 Jul 2018

How 18th and 19th century London supported its unmarried mothers and illegitimate children – essentially establishing an earlier version of today’s...

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Synthetic embryo-like structure made of three stem cells types in yellow, pink and green

Scientists generate key life event in artificial mouse ‘embryo’ created from stem cells

23 Jul 2018

The creation of artificial embryos has moved a step forward after an international team of researchers used mouse stem cells to produce artificial...

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Pregnant

Baby’s sex affects mother’s metabolism and may influence risk of pregnancy-related complications

12 Jul 2018

The sex of a baby controls the level of small molecules known as metabolites in the pregnant mother’s blood, which may explain why risks of some...

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Mother’s attitude towards baby during pregnancy may have implications for child’s development

12 Jun 2018

Mothers who ‘connect’ with their baby during pregnancy are more likely to interact in a more positive way with their infant after it is born...

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Online atlas explores north-south divide in childbirth and child mortality during Victorian era

15 May 2018

A new interactive online atlas, which illustrates when, where and possibly how fertility rates began to fall in England and Wales during the...

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Genome editing reveals role of gene important for human embryo development

20 Sep 2017

Researchers have used genome editing technology to reveal the role of a key gene in human embryos in the first few days of development. This is the...

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Professor Magdalena Zernicka-Goetz

Of mice and women

04 Aug 2017

Last year, Magdalena Zernicka-Goetz, Professor of Mammalian Development and Stem Cell Biology, made not one, but two world-changing discoveries.

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IMG_1331

Breath of life: how your risk of heart disease may stem back to your time in the womb

11 Jul 2017

Smoking, lack of exercise, bad diet and our genes are all well-known risk factors for heart disease, cancer and diabetes. But, as researchers are...

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Human reproduction likely to be more efficient than previously thought

13 Jun 2017

How difficult is it to conceive? According to a widely-held view, fewer than one in three embryos make it to term, but a new study from a researcher...

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Developing human primordial germ cells (each small green and red cell is a PGC)

Similarities in human and pig embryos provide clues to early stages of development

07 Jun 2017

Scientists have shown how the precursors of egg and sperm cells – the cells that are key to the preservation of a species – arise in the early embryo...

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Michelle Oyen

Bioengineering, embryos and eggshells

17 May 2017

Homerton Fellow Dr Michelle Oyen explains why she has dedicated her working life to investigating why pregnancies go wrong.

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Miniature ‘womb lining’ grown in lab could reveal secrets of menstrual cycle and early pregnancy

10 Apr 2017

Scientists at the University of Cambridge have succeeded in growing miniature functional models of the lining of the womb (uterus) in culture. These...

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