Using only skin cells, the Israeli lab makes synthetic mouse embryos with a heartbeat
An Israeli laboratory has grown synthetic mouse embryos with a beating brain and heart — in an egg-free sperm-free procedure that uses stem cells taken from the skin. The breakthrough, published Monday in the peer-reviewed journal Cell, is the first time advanced embryos of any species have been made from stem cells alone, said cell biologist Prof. Jacob Hanna of the Weizmann Institute of Science told The Times of Israel. . Hanna, who led the research, said that previous efforts have only led to blastocysts, meaning structures formed early in mammalian development. Blastocysts have a fraction of the millions of more cells present in their embryos. “Excellent,” he commented. “No sperm, no eggs and no uterus, but we managed to get embryos formed from stem cells alone for up to eight days – a third of the gestational age of mice – with beating hearts.” He said the research could one day be used to grow artificial human embryo-like structures to produce cells for futuristic medical sol