# History of embryology

Embryology is the study of the stages of prenatal development. The history of embryology goes back thousands of years, and prenatal biology was already being studied in the cultures with the earliest written records. In Ancient Egypt, information on prenatal development was learned by looking at miscarriages and fetuses from embalmed pregnant women through several stages of the pregnancy. Lists of malformations were produced, and in ancient Babylon, these were used to make predictions (omens) about what would occur in the future. Embryology was also studied in Ancient India.
In Ancient Greece, the study of embryology became more systematic and detailed. Hippocrates (c. 460 — c. 370 BC) comparatively described the stages of development between humans and chicks. He also hypothesized that the "seed", the entity that becomes the embryo, was derived from all over the body, with both parents contributing to its development, with the seed of the father playing the active role and the seed of the mother playing the passive role. The head, extremities, and other features were estimated to have developed in 42. Pythagoras said that the embryo "congeals" in 40 days and is "brought forth" in 7 to 10 months, with male fetuses developing faster. Other major Greek thinkers of the embryological tradition included Aristotle and Galen, and the Greek tradition entered into both Christian and Jewish thought where it dominated for centuries, with moral debates taking place on when life and ensoulment begins (whether at conception or later), related to controversies over abortion.
In modern scholarship, the classic study on the history of embryology up until c. 1800 was published by the British biochemist Joseph Needham in 1934, titled A History of Embryology. This was soon followed by George W. Corner's Ourselves Unborn, which looked at embryology in the 19th and 20th centuries.

## Ancient Egypt

Knowledge of the placenta goes back at least to ancient Egypt, where it was viewed as the seat of the soul. There was an Egyptian official with the title Opener of the Kings Placenta. An Egyptian text from the time of Akhenaten said that a human originates from the egg that grows in women.

## Ancient Asia

Various interpretations of embryology have existed in Asia throughout history. Included in the ancient Indian tradition of Ayurveda is garbhasharir or the study of embryology, which refers to conceptions of embryology from antiquity. Descriptions of the amniotic sac appear in the Bhagavad Gita, Bhagavata Purana, and the Sushruta Samhita. One of the Upanishads known as the Garbhopanisaḍ states that the embryo is "like water in the first night, in seven nights it is like a bubble, at the end of half a month it becomes a ball. At the end of a month it is hardened, in two months the head is formed". In Indian literature, the start of consciousness in an embryo is not clearly defined. Some scriptures state that it is active at conception, while others suggest that consciousness begins in the seventh to ninth month of fetal development. Many South Asian traditions, including some Tibetan traditions, believe that the fetus has conscious experiences towards the end of its development.
The development of the human embryo is mentioned in the ancient Buddhist text of Garbhāvakrāntisūtra (1st-4th century CE). It mentions the human gestation period of 38 days. The text describes embryonic development in first three weeks as a liquid part of yogurt and the differentiation of body parts such as arms, leg, feet and head in the third month.

## Ancient Greece
### Pre-Socratic philosophers

Pre-Socratic philosophers were divided on the precise timing of the different stages of development. Empedocles, according to Plutarch, believed the embryo receives blood from four blood vessels: two arteries and two veins. The sinews come from equal portions of earth and air, and the formation of men takes place between thirty to fifty days. Asclepiades agreed that men take fifty days, but said women take sixty (two months). An anecdote attributed to both either Anaxagoras of Clazomenae or Alcmaeon of Croton says that animal milk is similar to the white of fowl egg. Diogenes of Apollonia said a mass of flesh forms first and bones and nerves develop second. He believed the placenta provides nutrition for the fetus and said the males and females took four and five months respectively. He is said to be the first to practice dissection. For Parmenides, the male embryo was connected to the right side of the body, and the female embryo to the left side. According to Democritus and Epicurus, the fetus is nourished at the mouth inside the mother and there are comparable teats that supply this nourishment within the mother's body to the fetus. An anonymous document called Nutriment talks about the lengths of time for each of the parts of the embryo to appear.
Ancient Greeks debated whether only the male seed, or both male and female seeds, contribute to the developing embryo. One-seed theorists had trouble explaining maternal inheritance, but two-seed theorists had to explain why the female seed was needed if the male already had a seed. A common solution was to assert the inferiority or inactivity of the female seed. Another question was the origin of the seed. The encephalomyelogenic theory said it originated from the brain and/or bone marrow, but pangenesis says it is drawn from the whole body. This explained general resemblance in the body of the offspring. Later , hematogenous theory asserted the seed was drawn from the blood. A third question was how or in what form the progeny existed in the seed prior to developing into an embryo and a fetus. According to preformationists, the body of the progeny already existed in a pre-existing but undeveloped form in the seed. Three variants of preformationism were homoiomerous preformationism, anhomoiomerous preformationism, and homuncular preformationism. According to the first, the homoiomerous parts of the body (e.g. humors, bone) already exist pre-formed in the seed. The second held that it was the anhomoiomerous parts that were pre-formed. Finally, the third view held that the whole was already a unified organic thing. Preformationism was not the only view. According to epigenesists, parts of the embryo successively form after conception takes place.

### Hippocrates

Significant embryological developments came with Hippocrates and the Hippocratic Corpus, which focused on obstetrics (pregnancy and childbirth). Important Hippocratic texts included Regimen on Acute Diseases, On Semen, and On the Development of the Child. For Hippocrates, the element fire puts the development of the embryo into motion and food and breath from the mother was the nourishment. An outer layer of the embryo solidifies, and the fire within consumes humidity which makes way for development of bone and nerve. The fire in the innermost part becomes the belly and air channels are developed in order to route nourishment to it. The enclosed fire also helps form veins and allows for circulation. In this description, Hippocrates aims at describing the causes of development rather than describing what develops. Hippocrates also develops views similar to preformationism, where he claims that all parts of the embryo simultaneously develop. Hippocrates also believed that maternal blood nourishes the embryo. This blood flows and coagulates to help form the flesh of the fetus. This idea was derived from the observation that menstrual blood ceases during pregnancy, which Hippocrates took to imply that it was being redirected to fetal development. Hippocrates also claimed that the flesh differentiates into different organs of the body, and Hippocrates saw as analogous an experiment where a mixture of substances placed into water will differentiate into different layers. Comparing the seed to the embryo, Hippocrates further compared the stalk to the umbilical cord.

### Aristotle

Aristotle's predecessor Plato discussed embryology especially in his Timaeus. Plato thought that bone marrow acted as the seedbed, and the soul was the seed out of which the embryo developed. Scholars continue to debate Plato's other views about embryology.
Aristotle focused on embryology in his On the Generation of Animals, History of Animals, On the Parts of Animals, On Respiration, and On the Motion of Animals. Aristotle studied embryology, like his predecessors, by studying developing embryos taken out from animals as well as aborted and miscarried human embryos. Aristotle thought both male and females contributed to development: the female through menstrual blood, which contributes to the matter used to develop the embryo, and the male through semen, which shapes that matter. This is contrary to earlier views by Aeschylus and Egyptian traditions according to which the female only provides the womb as an environment for nourishing a growing fetus. However, the Melanesians held that the fetus is solely a product of the female contribution. Aristotle rejected any external influences on the development of the embryo. Against Hippocrates, he believed that new parts of the body developed over time rather than all forming immediately and developing from then on. He also considered whether each new part derives from a previously formed part or develops independently of any previously formed part. On the basis that different parts of the body do not resemble each other, he decided for the latter view. He described development of fetal parts as mechanical and automatic. He said the embryo begins in a liquid-like state as the material secreted by the female combines with the semen of the male, and then the surface begins to solidify as it interacts with heating and cooling processes. The heart differentiates first (then believed to be the location of reason and thinking). Aristotle said that vessels join to the uterus to supply nourishment to the developing fetus. Some of the most solid parts of the fetus cool and, as they lose moisture to heat, turn into nails, horns, hoofs, beaks, etc. Internal heat dries away moisture and forms sinews and bones and the skin results from drying of the flesh. Aristotle also describes the development of birds in eggs at length. He further described embryonic development in dolphins, some sharks, and many other animals. Aristotle singularly wrote more on embryology than any other pre-modern author, and his influence on the subsequent discussion on the subject for many centuries was immense, introducing into the subject forms of classification, a comparative method from various animals, discussion of the development of sexual characteristics, compared the development of the embryo to mechanistic processes, and so forth.

### Galen

Next to Aristotle, the most impactful and important Greek writer on biology was Galen of Pergamum, and his works were transmitted throughout the Middle Ages. Galen discusses his understanding of embryology in two of his texts, those being his On the Natural Faculties and his On the Formation of the Foetus. There is an additional text spuriously attributed to Galen known as On the Question of whether the Embryo is an Animal. Galen described embryological development in four stages. In the first stage, the semen predominates. In the second stage, the embryo is filled with blood. In the third stage, the main outlines of the organs have developed but various other parts remain undeveloped. In the fourth stage, formation is complete and has reached a stage where we can call it a child. Galen described processes that played a role in furthering development of the embryo such as warming, drying, cooling, and combinations thereof. As this development plays out, the form of life of the embryo also moves from that like a plant to that of an animal (where the analogy between the root and umbilical cord is made). Galen claimed that the embryo forms from menstrual blood, by which his experimental analogy was that when you cut the vein of an animal and allow blood to flow out and into some mildly heated water, a sort of coagulation can be observed. He gave detailed descriptions of the position of the umbilical cord relative to other veins.

### Other Hellenistic embryology

Some Stoics said that most parts of the body formed at once during embryological development. Some Epicureans claimed that the fetus is nourished by either the amniotic fluid or the blood, and that both male and female supply material to the development of the fetus. According to the writings of Tertullian, Herophilus in the 5th century BC described the ovaries and fallopian tubes (but not past what was already described by Aristotle) and also dissected some embryos. Contrary to Aristotle, Herophilus believed that the brain was the center of intellect. Though not a part of Greek tradition, in Job 10, the formation of the embryo is likened to the curdling of milk into cheese, as described by Aristotle. Whereas Needham sees this statement in Job as part of the Aristotelian tradition, others see it as evidence that the milk analogy predates the Aristotelian Greek tradition and originates in Jewish circles. In addition, the Wisdom of Solomon (7:2) also has the embryo formed from menstrual blood. Soranus of Ephesus also wrote texts on embryology which went into use for a long time. Some rabbinic texts discuss the embryology of a female Greek writer named Cleopatra, a contemporary of Galen and Soranus, who was said to have claimed that the male fetus is complete in 41 days whereas the female fetus is complete in 81 days. Various other texts of less importance also appear and describe various aspects of embryology, though without making much progress from Aristotle. Plutarch has a chapter in one of his works titled "Whether was before, the hen or egg?" Discussion on embryological tradition also appears in many Neoplatonic traditions.

## Christian tradition

Early Christian writers talked about embryology usually to determine whether the fetus had value and, if so, when. Many patristic treatments of embryology continued in the stream of Greek tradition, including among Ephrem the Syrian and Jacob of Serugh. Typically, all pre-natal infanticide was condemned. Tertullian held that the soul was present from the moment of conception. The Quinisext Council concluded that "we pay no attention to the subtle division as to whether the foetus is formed or unformed". In this time, then, the Roman practice of child exposure came to an end, where unwanted yet birthed children, usually females, were discarded by the parents to die. More liberal traditions followed Augustine, who instead viewed that the animation of life began on the 40th day in males and the 80th day in females but not prior. Before the 40th day for men and 80th day for women, the embryo was referred to as the embryo informatus, and after this period was reached, it was referred to as the embryo formatus. The notion originating from the Greeks that the male embryo developed faster survived until Andreas Ottomar Goelicke disproved it in 1723.
Nestorian, Monophysite and Chalcedonian texts chose between three positions on conception and the relation between the soul and the embryo. According to one view, the soul pre-exists and enters the embryo at the moment of conception (prohyparxis). According to a second view, the soul enters into existence at the moment of conception (synhyparxis). In a third view, the soul enters into the body after it has been formed (methyparxis). The first option was proposed by Origen, but was increasingly rejected after the fourth century. On the other hand, the other two options were equally accepted after this point. The second position appears to have been proposed as a response to Origen's notion of a pre-existing soul. After the sixth century, the second position was also increasingly seen as Origenist and so rejected on those grounds. The writings of Origen were condemned during the Second Origenist Crises in 553. Those defending prohyparxis usually appealed to the Platonic notion of an eternally moving soul. Those defending the second position also appealed to Plato but rejected his notion on the eternality of the soul. Finally, those appealing to the third position appealed both to Aristotle and scripture. Aristotelian notions included the progression of the development of the soul, from an initial plant-like soul, to a sensitive soul found in animals and allows for movement and perception, and finally the formation of a rational soul which can only be found in the fully-formed human. Furthermore, some scriptural texts were seen as implying the formation of the soul temporally after the formation of the body (namely Genesis 2:7; Exodus 21:22-23; Zachariah 12:1). In the De hominis opificio of Gregory of Nyssa, Aristotle's triparitate notion of the soul was accepted. Gregory also held that the rational soul was present at conception. Theodoret argued based on Genesis 2:7 and Exodus 21:22 that the embryo is only ensouled after the body is fully formed. Based on Exodus 21:22 and Zachariah 12:1, the Monophysite Philoxenus of Mabbug claimed that the soul was created in the body forty days after conception. In his De opificio mundi, the Christian philosopher John Philoponus claimed that the soul is formed after the body. Later still, the author Leontius held that the body and soul were created simultaneously, though it is also possible he held that the soul pre-existed the body.
Some Monophysites and Chalcedonians seemed to have been compelled into accepting synhyparxis in the case of Jesus because of their view that the incarnation of Christ resulted in both one hypostasis and one nature, whereas some Nestorians claimed that Christ, like us, must have had his soul formed after the formation of his body because, per Hebrews 4:15, Christ was like us in all ways but sin. (On the other hand, Leontinus dismissed the relevance of Hebrews 4:15 on the basis that Christ differed from us not only in sinfulness but also conception without semen, making synhyparxis another of Christ's supernatural feats.) They felt comfortable holding this view, under their belief that the human nature of Jesus was separate from the divine hypostasis. Some Nestorians still wondered, however, if the body united with the soul in the moment the soul was created or whether it came with it only later. The Syriac author Babai argued for the former on the basis that the latter was hardly better than adoptionism. Maximus the Confessor ridiculed the Aristotelian notion of the development of the soul on the basis that it would make humans parents of both plants and animals. He held to synhyparxis and regarded the other two positions both as incorrect extremes. After the 7th century, Chalcedonian discussion on embryology is slight and the few works that touch on the topic support synhyparxis. But debate among other groups remains lively, still divided on similar sectarian grounds. The patriarch Timothy I argued that the Word first united with the body, and only later with the soul. He cited John 1:1, claiming on its basis that the Word became flesh first, not a human being first. Then, Jacob of Edessa rejected prohyparxis because Origen had defended it and methyparxis because he believed that it made the soul ontologically inferior and as only being made for the body. Then, Moses Bar Kepha claimed, for Christological reasons as a Monophysite, that only synhyparxis was acceptable. He claimed that Genesis 2:7 has no temporal sequence and that Exodus 21:22 regards the formation of the body and not the soul and so is not relevant. To argue against methyparxis, he reasoned that body and soul are both present at death and, because what is at the end must correspond to what is also at the beginning, conception must also have body and soul together.

## Jewish tradition

Many Jewish authors also discussed notions of embryology, especially as they appear in the Talmud. Much of the embryological data in the Talmud is part of discussions related to the impurity of the mother after childbirth. The embryo was described as the peri habbetten (fruit of the body) and it developed through various stages: (1) golem (formless and rolled-up) (2) shefir meruqqam (embroidered foetus) (3) ubbar (something carried) (4) walad (child) (5) walad shel qayama (viable child) (6) ben she-kallu khadashaw (child whose months have been completed).
Some mystical notions regarding embryology appear in the Sefer Yetzirah. The text in the Book of Job relating to the fetus forming by analogy to the curdling of milk into cheese was cited in the Babylonian Talmud and in even greater detail in the Midrash: "When the womb of the woman is full of retained blood which then comes forth to the area of her menstruation, by the will of the Lord comes a drop of white-matter which falls into it: at once the embryo is created. [This can be] compared to milk being put in a vessel: if you add to it some lab-ferment [drug or herb], it coagulates and stands still; if not, the milk remains liquid." The Talmud sages held that there were two seeds that participated in the formation of the embryo, one from the male and one from the female, and that their relative proportions determine whether that develops into a male or a female.
In the Tractate Nidda, the mother was said to provide a "red-seed" which allows for the development of skin, flesh, hair, and the black part of the eye (pupil), whereas the father provides the "white-seed" which forms the bones, nerves, brain, and the white part of the eye. And finally, God himself was thought to provide the spirit and soul, facial expressions, capacity for hearing and vision, movement, comprehension, and intelligence. Not all strands of Jewish tradition accepted that both the male and female contributed parts to the formation of the fetus.
The 13th century medieval commentator Nachmanides, for example, rejected the female contribution. In Tractate Hullin in the Talmud, whether the organs of the child resemble more closely those of the mother or father is said to depend on which one contribute more matter to the embryo depending on the child. Rabbi Ishmael and other sages are said to have disagreed on one matter: they agreed that the male embryo developed on the 41st day, but disagreed on whether this was the case for the female embryo. Some believed that the female embryo was complete later, whereas others held that they were finished at the same time. The only ancient Jewish authors who associated abortion with homicide were Josephus and Philo of Alexandria in the 1st century. In the Talmud, a child is granted humanness at birth, while other rabbinical texts place it at the 13th postnatal day.
Some Talmudic texts discuss magical influences on the development of the embryo, such as one text which claims that if one sleeps on a bed that is pointed to the north–south will have a male child. According to Nachmanides, a child born of a cold drop of semen will be foolish, one born from a warm drop of semen will be passionate and irascible, and one born from a semen drop of medium temperature will be clever and level-headed. Some Talmudic discussions follow from Hippocratic claims that a child born on the eighth month could not survive, whereas others follow Aristotle in claiming that they sometimes could survive. One text even says that survival is possible on the seventh month, but not the eighth. Talmudic embryology, in various aspects, follows Greek discourses especially from Hippocrates and Aristotle, but in other areas, makes novel statements on the subject.
Judaism allows assisted reproduction, such as IVF embryo transfer and maternal surrogacy, when the spermatozoon and oocyte originate from the respective husband and wife.

## Islamic tradition

Passing reference to embryological notions also appear in the Qur'an (22:5), where the development of the embryo proceeds in four stages from drop, to a clinging clot, to a partially developed stage, to a fully developed child. The notion of clay turning into flesh is seen by some as analogous to a text by Theodoret that describes the same process. The four stages of development in the Qur'an are similar to the four stages of embryological development as described by Galen. In the early 6th century, Sergius of Reshaina devoted himself to the translation of Greek medical texts into Syriac and became the most important figure in this process. Included in his translations were the relevant embryological texts of Galen. Anurshirvan founded a medical school in the southern Mesopotamian city of Gundeshapur, known as the Academy of Gondishapur, which also acted as a medium for the transmission, reception, and development of notions from Greek medicine. These factors helped the transmission of Greek notions on embryology, such as found in Galen, to enter into the Arabian milieu. Very similar embryonic descriptions also appear in the Syriac Jacob of Serugh's letter to the Archdeacon Mar Julian.
Embryological discussions also appear in the Islamic legal tradition.

## Origins of modern embryology

Until the birth of modern embryology through observation of the mammalian ovum by Karl Ernst von Baer in 1827, there was no clear scientific understanding of embryology, although later discussions in this article show that some cultures had a fairly refined understanding of some of the principles. Only in the late 1950s when ultrasound was first used for uterine scanning, was the true developmental chronology of human fetus available. Karl Ernst von Baer along with Heinz Christian Pander, also proposed the germ layer theory of development which helped to explain how the embryo developed in progressive steps. Part of this explanation explored why embryos in many species often appear similar to one another in early developmental stages using his four principles.