They said it couldn’t be done. And then they did it. In a lab, scientists at the Weizmann Institute at Pompeu Fabra University in Spain have managed to create a 14-day-old, synthetic human embryo “model.”

While the model has released hormones like a real embryo, and even has tested positive for pregnancy, it’s still considered a model by virtue of the creation process, which uses naive stem cells to build the model.

The natural process of human development requires a sperm and egg which when joined develop into the embryo; the synthetic model requires only naïve stem cells which have the potential to become anything scientists program them to be.

Some ethicists may object to this type of embryo experimentation, but the scientists involved insist that it passes the ethics test because it’s done without human sperm or eggs and is developed with lab chemicals that can stimulate the stem cells into mimicking four different cell types necessary for building an embryo model.

The process is a risky process, as it presently has a 99% failure rate.

SOURCE:

BBC News September 6, 2023