Human embryo model created from stem cells could help understand why some pregnancies fail
The Hindu
A model of the human embryo derived from stem cells has been created in the lab which could help understand early human development and why and how some pregnancies fail
A model of the human embryo derived from stem cells has been created in the lab, a breakthrough that scientists say could help understand early human development and why and how some pregnancies fail.
Derived from pluripotent stem cells, or stem cells able to develop into various different cell types, this embryo model is an organised three-dimensional structure replicating some of the early human embryonal developmental processes, the research from Cambridge University, UK, said.
Such models, allowing experimental modelling of embryonic development during the second week of pregnancy, could also help researchers understand the developmental origins of organs and specialised cells such as sperm and eggs, the study published in the journal Nature said.
The second week of pregnancy in humans is when the embryo implants into the uterus. However, this is also the time when many pregnancies are lost.
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"Our human embryo-like model, created entirely from human stem cells, gives us access to the developing structure at a stage that is normally hidden from us due to the implantation of the tiny embryo into the mother's womb," said Magdalena Zernicka-Goetz, professor in the Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience at Cambridge, who led the work.
Understanding these early developmental processes holds the potential to reveal some of the causes of human birth defects and diseases, and to develop tests for these in pregnant women, the study said.