Scientists created a lifelike model of embryonic life: Details here
What's the story
In a major development, a team of scientists claims to have created a model of early embryonic life in a lab. The model, created for the first time using human stem cells, cannot grow into a living baby but can shed light on how genetic birth defects, miscarriages, and other critical pregnancy-related issues occur. Here's all you need to know about it.
Problem
14-day rule limiting work on lab-created embryos
Scientists have long been growing embryos by retrieving eggs from ovaries and fertilizing them with sperm in labs. The process is critical to IVF but the entire scientific community is bound by a '14-day rule' that limits work/study on human embryos to a fortnight after fertilization on ethical grounds. So, it has to be implanted into a womb or discarded before the 15th day.
Restriction
It keeps scientists from studying developmental processes
The 14-day rule has kept scientists around the world from observing how the embryo grows in the third week, which is when several key events take place. Basically, between 14-21 days, the embryo starts developing a body axis with one end destined to become the head, and its cells begin to differentiate into the layers that eventually produce all of the body's organs.
Solution
Now, this is where the new lab model comes in
To tackle this problem, the scientists at Cambridge University created the lab model of an embryo using human stem cells. The model, they say, doesn't have brain cells and is not capable of being implanted into a womb or growing into a baby. However, it does replicate some elements of development seen around 18-21 days and shows the processes involved in human body formation.
Goal
Plan to study birth defects, genetic disorders
The Cambridge team hopes that observing this lab-created model closely could give them a deeper understanding of the birth defects that are often caused during the third week of embryonic development. They say the work on this model could shed light on the problems caused by alcohol, medications, chemicals, and infections as well as the reasons behind issues like infertility, miscarriage, and genetic disorders.
Comment
"Useful for studying what happens when things go wrong"
Dr. Naomi Moris, the first author of the study, said the research "could prove useful for studying what happens when things go wrong, such as in birth defects". Several other experts in the scientific community have also hailed the development, noting that these reproducible models will allow many key studies that will bolster our understanding of early human development and when it goes wrong.
Quote
Exciting to witness developmental processes that have been hidden
Meanwhile, Professor Alfonso Martinez-Arias, who led the study, said, "Our model produces part of the blueprint of a human. It's exciting to witness the developmental processes that until now have been hidden from view - and from study."