Have a brain and heartbeat!Without fine eggs, they made embryos

Text ｜ Xinyu

The team led by Magdalena Zernicka-GOETZ, the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom, synthesized embryos with mouse stem cells in the laboratory, and "synthesis embryo" induced the development of brain and beating heart.

Related research results have been published in "Nature" recently.

Synthetic (left) is similar to the brain and heart formation process of natural mice. Image source: AMADEI, Handford

Zernicka-GOETZ said that this is currently the most natural embryo structure in the uterus.

Its team is conducting artificial human embryo experiments in the same way. Although the technology is not yet mature, it may help the organization and organs for manufacturing transplantation, or to treat sperm and egg -related fertility disorders.

Human embryos are usually implanted in the placenta at this stage when studying in a diner. At this stage, they are implanted.

In addition, most countries stipulate that human embryos cannot grow in vitro for more than 14 days because it can be regarded as an independent life individual for more than 14 days.

In 2017, the Zernicka-GOETZ team announced that they can extract some stem cells from mouse embryos and put them together with nourishing cells to create an embryo-like structure that develops for several days. Among them, nourishing cells usually generate placenta. This method has aroused world attention.

Earlier this month, Joseph Hanna team of the Institute of Weitzmann Institute of Science in Israel, Joseph Hanna, published an article in "Cell" that they created and created an embryonic stem cells and two other auxiliary cells in the special cultivation box. Synthetic mice embryo with real embryos.

This synthetic embryo is generated by genetically modifying the embryo stem cells, which translates it into cells and endocatins that form placenta.

The Zernicka-GOETZ team also used the training box of the HANNA team. The difference was that they extracted two auxiliary cells from other embryos. Their synthetic embryo is similar to the real 8.5 -day embryo.

However, after this stage, synthetic embryos began to apoptosis, and the research team was trying new methods to make it live longer.

Zernicka-GOETZ said: "Our method of synthetic embryonic development is more advanced than any previous method."

And Hanna believes that their synthetic embryos are as advanced as the method of Zernicka-GOETZ team, which contains molecules that indicate the development of the foretaries. "It is a major surprise and a simplified and better way to use a single -sources of embryonic stem cells to make synthetic embryos through genes." Hanna said.

If artificial embryos can be made of human cells, in the future, they can be used to make new cells and tissues for organs that are used to transplant or cure failure. Zernicka-GOETZ believes that artificial embryos can also be used to test the safety of drugs for pregnancy.

Related thesis information:

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-05246-3

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.20222.07.028

"China Science News" (2022-08-30, the 2nd edition of the original title "Synthetic embryo with brain and heartbeat")

Edit | Zhao Lu

Capture | Guo Gang

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