Developed a model of a human embryo with a beating heart
The model will help study the early stages and malformations of fetal development. The Guardian reports on the development, citing the authors of the study.Researchers from the Herdon Institute at the University of Cambridge announced the creation with the help of embryonic stem cells of an embryo model with "functioning" rudiments of the circulatory system. "Embryos" are housed in a special rotating container that works like an artificial womb.
To develop the artificial embryos, the researchers used human stem cells, the basic cells in the body that can evolve into almost any type of cell. This embryo model is not fertilized with eggs or sperm. Researchers have affected stem cells to create structures that normally form in the third and fourth weeks of pregnancy.
The scientists were able to create beating heart cells, a feature that appears on day 23 in a normal embryo. In addition, the embryo model mimics certain traces of red blood that may appear at the fourth week. The embryonic components were placed in a specially designed rotating container that functions like an artificial womb.
The study emphasizes that this model lacked the placenta and yolk sac, from which the fetus develops and receives nutrition in its first weeks of existence. In the process of development inside the "incubator", the artificial cells began to deviate from the course of natural development.
The authors of the development emphasize that it is not a question of growing full-fledged embryos and creating an artificial human, but only of developing a model for testing. It can be used to observe the least studied stages of development, to investigate the nature of genetic diseases and the causes of miscarriages. In addition, such laboratory models can be used for preliminary testing of the effect of taking drugs by pregnant women on fetal development.
Earlier, another group of scientists presented their development of a prototype human embryo consisting of three germ sheets. These include the embryo prototype itself, as well as future placenta and yolk sac cells.
Source: Model embryo with heartbeat replicates cells in early pregnancy | Stem cells | The Guardian