Abstract
Ethical considerations, coupled with the relative inaccessibility of the uterine lumen, severely limit the opportunities to examine closely or to manipulate experimentally the crucial events taking place during the first 12 weeks of gestation in humans. Researchers have therefore turned to animal models, or recently to in vitro culture systems in order to investigate many of the processes involved. However, the extreme diversity displayed amongst mammals in terms of the reproductive strategies employed, and in particular in the type of placentation that has evolved, means that questions must be asked concerning the validity of animal models. Equally, as evidence emerges of the complexity of the dialogue that takes place between the blastocyst and endometrium at the time of implantation, the limitations of in vitro systems are being exposed.
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© 1992 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
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Burton, G.J. (1992). Human and Animal Models: Limitations and Comparisons. In: Barnea, E.R., Hustin, J., Jauniaux, E. (eds) The First Twelve Weeks of Gestation. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-84385-3_27
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-84385-3_27
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
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