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| The Visible Embryo began in 1993 as an attempt to use the newly developing world wide web to teach developmental biology. Source material teaching embryology was scarce at the time yet embryology was fast becomming an exciting field breaking down the barriers to infertility. Specialists and educators needed sophisticated teaching tools to get across the concepts of how an embryo evolves from a single cell into a baby.
The National Institute of Child and Human Development wants their collection of 10,000 human embryos made available to the medical and scientific communities for study. Part of their collection is designated as the Carnegie Collection of Human Development and consists of 650 serial microscopic cross-sections of human embryos. Located in the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology (AFIP) in Washington, D.C., the Carnegie Collection of Human Development is an invaluable source of material for teaching normal growth as well as the origins of developmental disorders. Three dimensional reconstruction of these slides in order to view the development of internal organ systems was and is a primary focus for the collection. However, in 1994, only a few select computers could display in 3D. The process of reconstructing existing embryo slides into accurate embryo models would also require developing a sophisticated program needing years to perfect. |
Teaching the concepts of early development required another approach. Two Small Business Innovative Research grants (SBIR) were awarded by The National Institute of Child and Human Development to Ms. Carmen Arbona to instructionally design and organize the study of early embryology using the Carnegie Collection. The September 1993 release of MOSAIC, the first graphical internet browser for the World Wide Web (developed at the The National Center for Supercomputing Applications), guaranteed interactivity between art and text. Now the potential of the net as a new communiction medium could begin . The Visible Embryo immediately became connected to scientific and medical facilities and is now linked to over 600 educational sites. Over 86,000 page views per week and more than 12,000 viewers per day in January, 2006 are continuing to increase its viewership. More than 8 million page views and 9 million unique visitors have visited the site since 1993. Public interest in embryology is inspired by pregnancy, discoveries in stem cell research, and questions about anomalies of birth. We are all curious about life and how we develop. |
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