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[[File:lighterstill.jpg]][[File:Embryo_2.jpg|right|frame]]
[[File:lighterstill.jpg]][[File:Embryo_2.jpg|right|frame]]
==Definition==
==Definition==
===Noun===
===Noun===
===Adjective===
===Adjective===
[From the attrib. use of the n.] That is still in germ; immature, unformed, undeveloped.
[From the attrib. use of the n.] That is still in germ; immature, unformed, undeveloped.
==Description==
An '''embryo''' (irregularly from [[Greek]]: ἔμβρυον, plural ἔμβρυα, lit. "that which grows," from en- "in" + bryein "to swell, be full"; the proper [[Latin]]ate form would be embryum) is a multicellular diploid eukaryote in its earliest stage of development, from the time of first cell division until birth, hatching, or germination. In [[human]]s, it is called an embryo until about eight weeks after fertilization (i.e. ten weeks LMP), and from then it is instead called a [[fetus]].
The development of the embryo is called embryogenesis. In [[organisms]] that reproduce [[sexual]]ly, once a sperm fertilizes an egg cell, the result is a cell called the zygote that has half of the DNA of each of two parents. The resulting embryo derives 50 percent of its genetic makeup from each parent. In plants, animals, and some protists, the zygote will begin to divide by mitosis to produce a multicellular organism. The result of this [[process]] is an embryo.
==See also==
*'''''[[Fetus]]'''''
[[Category: Biology]]
[[Category: Biology]]
[[Category: General Reference]]
[[Category: General Reference]]
