Not My Blastula! Pt. 4 of an Educational Series

I don't really have anything to say about this one. It's kind of a boring phase. It's like the other one except with a hole in it. Big whup.

But wait 'til you see what comes next! Oh, baby. 

Not My Morula: Part Whatever of an Educational Series

So, when last we left our zygote - excuse me, not "our" zygote - yours maybe! I have no idea. Don't ask me whose zygote, I have no dog in that fight. Point is, it was a zygote. But it very quickly undergoes a startling metaphorphosis! The fused nucleus begins dividing, via a process called "cleavage":



(not my cleavage)

So we see here, at first this looks pretty good for our pal the mitochondria. He's got a buddy! A big, googly-eyed buddy. But not so fast, this process is as alarming as it is inexorable:



Told you. That mitochondria's not so sanguine about matters now is he! He's like, "oh shit it's the blob!" And he's not far off. Because look:



This here is what is called a "morula." (but cf. the post title! ...and n.b. it while you're at it!)

There's a couple few things to point out at this stage:

1. All of the cell division thus far has been mitotic. That means I know the technical terms.

2. The cleavage at this point has all been just subdividing and subdividing - the actual dudeuole is still the same size! He hasn't gotten any bigger!

2.5 A female dudeuole would be called a dudetteicule.

3. That mitochondria's fine. Don't worry about him. He's in there someplace! It's a little cramped, maybe, but that's the worst of it.

...until the next stage unfolds...

Not My Zygote Pt.2

It's a boy!


It's not my boy. I don't know whose boy it is.

Not My Zygote: Part 1 of An Educational Series

Here we see the zygote (not mine! I don't know whose this is):

The egg nucleus and the sperm nucleus (whose-ever it is) are only just beginning to fuse! What an exciting moment. With the exchange of DNA we see happening at this very instant, this little round dude now contains all the makings of a whole new human being, but it's not mine. Not my new human being! I had nothing to do with it. I don't even know who this woman is, I never saw her. Or not woman, I guess, but egg.

I don't mean to depersonalize the whole being of a human female down into a single one of her reproductive cells!

Still, take a look at what's going on here. Even though this is Not My Zygote, I'm pretty proud of the job I did drawing it. Over there to the right, that's a mitochondria. Technically I'm not sure that's accurate, but it's the only cell structure I can really draw properly and damn if I was going to leave it out! Does a woman's egg actually have mitochondrions in it? I'd say "probably." After all, they have to come from someplace, and there's no room in the sperm!

The little squiggly things and dots represent...little squiggly things and dots. The zygote - the very first stage of human development - is rife with these.

I guess I have to cop to the sperm vs. egg nucleus colors, though. Pink for egg, blue for sperm, on the nuclear membrane? When in fact, of course they're about the same color! It's pretty obvious all I'm doing here is needlessly perpetuating gender stereotypes. Right at the very moment of conception! Which will probably lead to needless confusion and anxiety on gender issues later (as the artificial imposition of societal constructs always does, upon a young mind). So yeah. I have to cop to that, I guess, but there's kind of an artistic issue too! One that I think is valid. Because if the whole THING was pink, picture how that would look?!

Exactly.

Artistically, even in the most scientific drawings, sometimes you need to break it up a little. Add a little variety into the color palette, to create visual interest. If you think half your blood vessels are really red and the other half are really blue, you're in for a surprise if you ever get cut open wide enough for a good look-see!

This has been Not My Zygote: Part 1 of An Educational Series.

Me And You And Baby Makes Two!

That's because 1+1+0 = 2.

So anyway, a big announcement! But first a bit of background. A day or two ago I decided to take on a big undertaking: I decided to start a Baby Blog. Seems like everybody and their mother is coming out with a Baby Blog, and I, perhaps giddily, perhaps ill-advisedly, decided to leap into that breach as well. In the same way as so many others start a Baby Blog to document the fun and the excitement and anticipation of having a baby, I wanted to do the same thing, albeit, modified by the circumstance that I'm not in the process of having a baby. Still, I wanted to document that process. The travails, the hardships, the joys and anticipations all wrapped up in the whole journey of not being about to have a kid. That's a big deal, and a big responsibility in itself!

But I have to admit it now: Boy, I did not know what I was getting into! There's an incredibly big responsibility involved in having a Baby Blog, and I guess all I really saw was the fun and excitement. I think the same could be said for a lot of people. They just jump right into it, without a lot of forethought into the consequences and responsibilities involved.

Well, thank God I had a helping angel waiting in the wings. I'm pleased and proud to announce that The Vegetable Assassin has come on board, to help with the rather overwhelming task, the big commitment, of having a Baby Blog. Thanks for the assist, VA! I've found it can be extremely hard, especially in today's economy, for one person to shoulder all the responsibilities involved in not having a baby, all by himself.

Together though, I think we've got this whole thing licked!!