Environmental Factors in Embryonic Development

Human embryonic development is exceptionally sensitive to environmental perturbation, yet the mechanisms by which pollutants, endocrine disruptors, temperature fluctuations, or nutritional imbalances disrupt organogenesis, cellular differentiation, and epigenetic programming at this specific stage remain poorly resolved. This Research Topic is centred on the embryonic period, from fertilization through organogenesis, and to mechanistic, cellular and molecular evidence. This Topic focuses on uncovering the direct biological pathways linking environmental exposures to disrupted embryogenesis, using recent methodological advances, multi-omic profiling, stable isotope-assisted ion-tracing metabolomics, nonclinical/in vitro embryo models, and systems toxicology, to resolve mechanism at the cellular and systemic level. The aim is to build an integrated, mechanistic account of how early-life environmental stressors act during this narrow but consequential developmental window, and to do so through multidisciplinary work spanning developmental biology, toxicology, and environmental health that is explicitly experimental, computational, or mechanistic in design.We welcome articles addressing, but not limited to:• Molecular and cellular mechanisms linking environmental exposures to disrupted human embryogenesis• Epigenetic reprogramming and transcriptomic signatures induced by environmental stressors during embryogenesis• Ion-tracing and metabolic flux analyses of developmental responses to environmental exposures• Maternal–embryonic transfer of pollutants and its mechanistic implications for embryonic growth and patterning• Nonclinical and in vitro model systems for investigating human-relevant embryonic responses to environmental factors• Oxidative stress, endocrine modulation, and metabolic disturbance as mechanisms of embryonic disruption• Multi-omic and systems toxicology approaches for characterizing environmental effects on embryogenesis• Computational and AI-driven modelling to predict mechanistic environmental effects on Topic editors: Nima Azari-Dolatabad, Preeti Bajpai Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/85195/environmental-factors-in-embryonic-development