Seminars Graduate Training Administration Stanley R. Glasser, Ph.D. Biography Stanley R. Glasser received his B.S. in animal science and his A.B. in zoology from Cornell University in 1948. In 1962 he joined the research faculty of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Vanderbilt University Medical School. In 1972 he was a member of a research group that established the Department of Cell Biology and the Center for Population Studies and Research in Reproductive Biology at Baylor College of Medicine. At this time Dr. Glasser is Professor Emeritus, Cell Biology. In most mammalian species, losses at this stage, even when chromosomally normal embryos are involved, may approach forty percent.
Wastage when using genetically altered embryos is even greater.
Correction of this developmental error, which is the major goal of this laboratory, is critical to the design of research and treatment strategies for the repair and regeneration of human tissues and the transfer of new genetic technology to improve the health and productivity of domestic farm animals. Embryo attachment requires the expression of a unique temporal and spatial program of cell differentiation. A key element of this program suspends a fundamental law of cell biology which prohibits two apical epithelial cell surfaces from attaching to each other. The normally regulated suspension of this rule allows the apical surface of the embryonic trophoblast cell to appose, attach and adhere to the apical surface of the uterine epithelial cell. Attachment of the developing embryo is the critical step which initiates formation of the placenta and establishes pregnancy.