An embryo has a brain, a beating heart and the building blocks for every other organ in the body.
Scientists at the University of Cambridge have created the world’s first “synthetic” embryo that has a brain, a beating heart and the building blocks for every other organ in the body, according to a New York Post report. The embryo was created from mouse stem cells, the publication also said.
According to a release from the university, instead of using eggs or sperm, a team led by Professor Magdalena Zernichka-Götz created the embryo model using stem cells, which are the body’s stem cells and can differentiate into almost any cell type.
Ms Zernicka-Goetz is Professor of Mammalian Development and Stem Cell Biology in the Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience at Cambridge.
The three different types of stem cells that are present in early mammalian development were brought to the stage where they begin to interact, mimicking natural processes in the laboratory.
The researchers were able to convince the stem cells to “talk” to each other by triggering the production of a certain set of genes and creating a special environment for their interactions, the announcement added.
“Our mouse embryo model not only develops a brain, but also a beating heart, all the components that make up the body,” the researcher was quoted as saying in the release.
“It’s unbelievable that we’ve come this far. This has been the dream of our community for years and a major focus of our work for a decade, and we finally did it,” she added.
To understand why some pregnancies fail and others succeed, Professor Zernicka-Goetz’s team at the University of Cambridge has been studying these early stages of pregnancy for the past decade.
“The stem cell embryo model is important because it gives us access to the developing structure at a stage that is normally hidden from us due to the implantation of the tiny embryo in the mother’s womb,” added Ms. Zernichka-Goetz.
The scientists discovered that extraembryonic cells communicate with embryonic cells not only chemically, but also mechanically or by touch to guide the development of the embryo.
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