Scientists create the first-ever model of a human embryo

According to several publications, in a recent study that works to pave the way for advanced fertility, the Weizmann Institute team successfully tested out their artificial model of a human embryo from stem cells grown outside the womb in their lab and discovered that the hormones released turned a pregnancy test positive.

SCIENTISTS CREATE A TWO WEEK OLD EMBRYO

According to The Guardian, Professor Jacob Hanna, who led the research at the lab in Israel reportedly shared that tinny balls of tissue were created through a combination of stem cells that automatically resembled a 3D feature found in a textbook example of a 14-day-old embryo.

“This is the first embryo model that has structural compartment organisation and morphological similarity to a human embryo at day 14,” Hanna was quoted as saying.

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The study was a success even without using sperm, eggs, or a womb, BBC reported. Instead, naive stem cells were used and reportedly reprogrammed in order for them to gain the potential to become any type of tissue in the body. The scientists are said to have then used chemicals to coax the stem cells into becoming four types of cells found in the earliest stages of the human embryo including an epiblast cell (which is what turned into the embryo), trophoblast cells (what became the placenta), hypoblast cells (which became the yolk sac), as well as the extraembryonic mesoderm cell.

“This hasn’t been done before,” Hanna was quoted as saying.

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MORE ABOUT THE BREAKTHROUGH STUDY

With this discovery, the Researchers at the Weizmann Institute were able to revert a human skin cell back to its primal state, Haaretz reported. This development will reportedly also assist researchers in further studying the stages of developing organs in the human body.

And, since most defects occur between the tenth and the fortieth day of embryonic development, the recent breakthrough in the study will reportedly also help researchers further study the development of birth defects and congenital diseases.