Artificial embryos created in UoC study

A study conducted by the University of Cambridge team has created ‘artificial embryos’ using stem cells from mice.

The researchers used two types of stem cells and a ‘3D scaffold’ to create a structure closely resembling a natural mouse embryo.

The success comes after previous attempts have yielded few results because of the complexities of early embryo development, which requires different cells to coordinate with each other.

It is hoped the study, published in the journal Science, will inform scientists’ knowledge of how embryos develop and potentially outline new ways to improve fertility treatments. Currently, experimentation on human embryos is strictly regulated, and banned after 14 days.

Once a mammalian egg has been fertilised, it divides to generate embryonic stem cells, which cluster together inside the embryo towards one end, forming the rudimentary embryonic structure known as a blastocyst.

Lead researcher Prof Magdalena Zenricka Goetz said: "We knew that interactions between the different types of stem cell are important for development, but the striking thing that our new work illustrates is that this is a real partnership - these cells truly guide each other."

Once a mammalian egg has been fertilised, it divides to generate embryonic stem cells which cluster together inside the embryo, forming the rudimentary embryonic structure known as a blastocyst.

The Cambridge team, whose work is published in the journal Science, created their artificial embryo using embryonic stem cells and a second type of stem cell - extra-embryonic trophoblast stem cells - which form the placenta.

Prof Jonathan Montgomery, an expert in health care law, at University College London, said: "It wouldn't, obviously, be within the current regulatory framework, although we would need to think carefully about how we should oversee it.

"It is early days, but if they do manage to not only create the partnership that's needed to get started but also the nutrition that's needed to sustain it, you could see that we are contemplating the opportunity of developing human embryos for quite a substantial period in vivo."