First Pictures

Right around the Olympics this summer, there was an internet photo running rampant of the "first picture of Michael Phelps." It featured a single spermatozoa swimming faster than others on its journey towards fertilizing the ovum. While this was clever and entertaining, it actually wasn't the first picture of Michael Phelps.

Well actually, hopefully that was obvious to everyone. Because it was a cartoon and not an image of the innards of Mama Phelps, but what I mean is that we (scientists) can actually take a picture of people long before they are even spermatozoa...that's way before people even have enough genetic information to be considered a person!

Okay, mind blowing. This might need some unpacking.

This past week we learned about primordial germ cells in embryology. For the purposes of more clearly explaining these cells, we are going to hypothetically assume that I am pregnant (in real life I am NOT pregnant nor do I plan to be for many, many years). Back to primordial germ cells. These cells develop in the gonads of the fetus/child/baby/person that I am carrying. So basically these cells are my GRANDCHILDREN. And we can take pictures of them as early as 4 weeks after my child is conceived. That's a good 20-30 years before there are any baby pictures of them! Perhaps I will print out a copy of the picture (below) and frame it alongside copies of ultrasounds of my unborn child. Then everyone could see a picture of my child with his/her unborn children by their side.

Primordial Germ Cells.
4th week gestation
Thanks to Dr. James Turpen, PhD for this photo. 

Whoa. Science is cool. And doesn't that picture just look awesome anyway? The colors are pretty and the pattern is sweet too. And then you realize what the picture is actually of, your jaw drops, and you silently thank the scientific community for the work that they do.

As I wrap up this post, let me just reiterate that I am NOT actually pregnant, but that I just pretended to be for this blog post so that you could better understand primordial germ cells.

Test on Saturday. I can't believe I only have a few more days left of the first core of my medical school experience. After Friday, I will never again have a formal anatomy class as a medical student. The past 9.5 weeks have flown by! Just 6.5 weeks until Christmas vacation :)