In a process that totally avoids sexual reproduction or even the need for an egg and sperm, human embryos have been created in a lab. The synthetic entities start with human stem cells, an initiative that isn’t regulated because the resulting embryos are synthetic.

This technically allows scientists to pursue embryonic research that’s banned when human embryos are involved. That research is still self-limited, however, because synthetic embryos do not have digestive tracts, heartbeats or the beginnings of brains.

They do have cells that form a placenta, yolk sac and the embryo itself. While clinical use isn’t in the picture yet, researchers hope it will open a window to the development process of an embryo.

“The idea is that if you really model normal human embryonic development using stem cells, you can gain an awful lot of information about how we begin development, what can go wrong, without having to use early embryos for research,” Robin Lovell-Badge, head of stem cell biology and developmental genetics at the Francis Crick Institute in London, said.

SOURCES:

Interesting Engineering June 14, 2023

The Guardian June 14, 2023