Synthetic embryo models created solely
from stem cells
Researchers from the Weizmann Institute of Science have grown synthetic embryo models of mice outside the womb by starting solely with stem cells cultured in a petri dish — that is, without the use of fertilised eggs.
P
reprogramming had won a Nobel Prize in 2012. But causing stem cells to differentiate into specialised body cells, let alone to form entire organs, has proved much more problematic. ublished in the journal Cell, the
“Until now, in most studies, the specialised
method opens new horizons for studying how
cells were often either hard to produce or
stem cells form various organs in the developing
aberrant, and they tended to form a mishmash
embryo, and may one day make it possible to
instead of well-structured tissue suitable for
grow tissues and organs for transplantation using
transplantation,” Hanna said. “We managed to
synthetic embryo models.
overcome these hurdles by unleashing the self-
The research team was led by Professor
14 | LAB+LIFE SCIENTIST - Aug/Sep 2022
organisation potential encoded in the stem cells.”
Jacob Hanna, who explained that scientists
Hanna’s team built on two previous advances
already know how to restore mature cells
in his lab. One was an efficient method for
to ‘stemness’ — pioneers of this cellular
reprogramming stem cells back to a naïve state
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