Researchers say they created first synthetic human embryo model

A team of scientists in the United States and the United Kingdom said they created the world's first synthetic human embryonic structure from stem cells, an advancement that "sidesteps the need for eggs or sperm," per The Guardian, the first outlet to cover the story.

The researchers said the model embryos resemble the earliest stages of human development, meaning they lack organs such as a heart or brain. Still, the hope is that the structures can help scientists better understand genetic diseases and miscarriages, and that the research sheds light on the "black box" of human development, or the period that follows two weeks of fertilization.

Dr. Magdalena Zernicka-Goetz, a professor of biology and biological engineering at CalTech and the University of Cambridge, described her team's findings in a presentation for the International Society for Stem Cell Research's annual meeting in Boston. She said a scientific journal had accepted the research but it has yet to be published. Her team and a rival group in Israel had previously reported creating similar "embryoids" from mouse stem cells.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Zernicka-Goetz's lab grew each model embryo from a single human embryonic stem cell that developed into three different tissue layers, she told CNN. The models included cells that could develop into a yolk sac, placenta or embryo. She also said her lab's structures were the first to have germ cells that could become eggs and sperm. Still, Zernicka-Goetz wanted to "stress that they are not human embryos."

For some, the research underscores how quickly the science in the field has bypassed the law, as many countries, including the U.S. and the U.K., lack any regulations for creating or working with synthetic embryos. The advancement also highlights the "urgent need" for laws that provide "a framework for the creation and use of stem cell derived models of human embryos," James Briscoe, associate research director at the Francis Crick Institute, said in a statement.