Embryo Project Encyclopedia Articles

The Public Broadcasting Station (PBS) documentary Life's Greatest Miracle (abbreviated Miracle, available at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/miracle/program.html), is arguably one of the most vivid illustrations of the making of new human life. Presented as part of the PBS television series NOVA, Miracle is a little less than an hour long and was first aired 20 November 2001. The program was written and produced by Julia Cort and features images by renowned Swedish photographer Lennart Nilsson. It comes as a sequel to the award-winning 1983 NOVA production, The Miracle of Life, which exhibits Nilsson's photography as well. The program showcases a combination of graphic animation, endoscopic and microscopic footage, as well as the story of a couple who are expecting a child. It features a number of new technological and scientific developments not present in its prequel, providing additional relevant information. By depicting human development in a clear and fresh manner, Miracle helps shed light on this indispensible aspect of life. Following is a description of the documentary, highlighting the key points of the film and explaining images featured in it.

Written, produced, and directed by Toby Mcdonald, the 2005 National Geographic Channel film In the Womb uses the most recent technology to provide an intricate glimpse into the prenatal world. The technologies used, which include advanced photography, computer graphics, and 4-D ultrasound imaging, help to realistically illustrate the process of development and to answer questions about the rarely seen development of a human being. The following description of the images and narrative of the film captures the major points of In the Womb, and of embryonic and fetal development, as they are seen at the outset of the twenty-first century, depicted in only 100 minutes.