Successfully creepy?: Scientists grow a human embryo model from scratch

A group of scientists from Israelfrom the Weizmann Institute of Science have made absolutely astonishing progress, but which raises difficult ethical questions: the creation of a model in just 14 days human embryo from scratch, without the participation of sperm and eggs.

The synthetic embryos were cultured using stem cells and appeared to have the same structures and components as a typical human embryo. Everything was published on September 6 in the journal Nature.

To create laboratory embryos, the team mixed three groups of stem cells. One group was allowed to grow without any hindrance. The other two groups were chemically stimulated to become parts of structures designed to support the embryo, such as the placenta and yolk sac. The team’s experiments produced many groups of stem cells, most of which failed to develop. According to the researchers, about one percent of these groups continued to grow and organize into what could actually be considered an embryo.

These stem cells, embryonic-like structures or SEMS, could supposedly grow in the laboratory for about 8 days. At the time, it appeared that SEMS contained all the necessary components of a typical embryo that had reached the 14-day growth period in the uterus, the stage just before the embryo begins to develop what will eventually become organs. The researchers even ran pregnancy tests on their SEMS, as these tests rely on detecting a hormone produced by the embryo, and the tests came back positive.

“The drama happens in the first month; the remaining eight months of pregnancy are mostly characterized by strong growth,” study author and lead researcher Jacob Hanna said in a statement from the Weizmann Institute. “But this first month is still a black box. Our stem cells, derived from a human embryo model, offer an ethical and affordable way to look inside that box. “It closely mimics the development of a real human embryo, especially the emergence of its exquisitely beautiful architecture.”