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Australian researchers have created “model” human embryos from the skin cells of an adult’s arm, in a world-first scientific breakthrough that raises significant ethical questions.
The model embryos, created in a laboratory by researchers at Melbourne’s Monash University, do not use egg or sperm, but ordinary cells that are reprogrammed to replicate the first few days of human life.
An animation, developed by Monash University, showing how the artificial embryos are generated.
Credit:Monash University
When placed in a dish, the model embryos attach – much as embryos would in the uterus – and begin developing.
However, they are not identical to natural embryos, lacking several key features and containing cells not normally seen.
Scientists have created a model of an early human embryo from skin cells, a discovery which they say will revolutionise research into the causes of early miscarriage, infertility and early human development.
Researchers have successfully reprogrammed these fibroblasts or skin cells into a 3D cellular structure that is similar to human blastocysts.
Called iBlastoids, these can be used to model the biology of early human embryos in the laboratory, according to a new study.
Scientists say this is a significant breakthrough for the future study of early human development and infertility.
A few days after an egg has been fertilised, it develops into a blastocyst.
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Dr. Jun Wu s team at University of Texas Southwestern medical Center at Dallas have created hollow balls of cells that closely resemble embryos at the stage when they usually implant in the womb, which are known as blastocysts. The new laboratory-made embryos have been dubbed blastoids.
These structures made from living human cells are similar to human embryos at the stage when they implant in the womb. They allow scientists to research new ways to treat infertility.
For decades, science has been trying to unlock the mysteries of how a single cell becomes a fully formed human being and what goes wrong to cause genetic diseases, miscarriages and infertility.
Researchers have successfully grown model versions of early human embryos by “reprogramming” cells from human skin. The breakthrough potentially opens up new ways to study the earliest phases of human development, learn more about developmental disorders, infertility and genetic diseases, and perhaps even improve the success of IVF treatment.
In a study published in Nature today, a team led by our colleague Jose Polo discovered that when skin cells are treated in a particular way, 3D structures similar to early human embryos form. A US-Chinese research group led by Jun Wu also reported a similar feat, creating structures that resemble a very early stage of the embryo called a “blastocyst”.
Dr. Jun Wu s team at University of Texas Southwestern medical Center at Dallas have created hollow balls of cells that closely resemble embryos at the stage when they usually implant in the womb, which are known as blastocysts. The new laboratory-made embryos have been dubbed blastoids. Credit: UT Southwestern Medical Center
Scientists Create Living Entities In The Lab That Closely Resemble Human Embryos By
at 9:01 am NPR
For decades, science has been trying to unlock the mysteries of how a single cell becomes a fully formed human being and what goes wrong to cause genetic diseases, miscarriages and infertility.
Now, scientists have created living entities in their labs that resemble human embryos; the results of two new experiments are the most complete such model embryos developed to date.