View synonyms for blastula

blastula

[ blas-chuh-luh ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

, Embryology.

, plural blas·tu·las, blas·tu·lae [blas, -ch, uh, -lee].

the early developmental stage of an animal, following the morula stage and consisting of a single, spherical layer of cells enclosing a hollow, central cavity.

blastula

/ ˈblæstjʊlə /

an early form of an animal embryo that develops from a morula, consisting of a sphere of cells with a central cavity Also calledblastosphere

blastula

/ blăs′chə-lə /

, Plural blastulas blăs′chə-lē′

An animal embryo at the stage immediately following the division of the fertilized egg cell, consisting of a ball-shaped layer of cells around a fluid-filled cavity known as a blastocoel.
Compare gastrulaSee also blastocyst

blastula

The stage of an embryo that consists of just over a hundred cells — a stage reached about one week after fertilization . At this stage the cells are just at the very beginning of cellular differentiation and are said to be totipotent ( See totipotency ).

This is the stage of development where embryonic stems cells can be harvested for medical research.

1885–90; < New Latin < Greek blast ( ós ) bud, sprout + New Latin -ula -ule

C19: New Latin; see blasto-

The hollow sphere which is thus formed is the important stage of the “germinal vesicle,” the blastula, or blastosphere.

Consider its mode of division, and the formation of the blastula, gastrula, and germinal layers.

In a blastula showing complete segmentation the blastomeres of the upper hemisphere are the more finely subdivided.

Our next question concerns the distribution of potentiality, when the embryo is developed further than the blastula stage.

But there is in the blastula no trace of one part of the germ becoming different with respect to others of its parts.

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