Growing mouse embryos with beating brains and hearts using only skin cells, no eggs, sperm or uterus

Scientists in Israel have developed an artificial mouse embryo with a beating heart and brain outside the womb, without using sperm or eggs.

The fetus was grown in an artificial womb for eight days using stem cells from the skin grown in a petri dish.

Stem cell scientists believe this could be a major step toward creating alternative organs for humans.

Scientists involved in the study said the goal was not to create mice or babies outside the womb, but to unlock an understanding of how organs develop in fetuses and use that knowledge to develop new ways to heal people.

The results of the study were published Monday in the peer-reviewed journal Cell.

Citing cell biologist Jacob Hanna of the Weizmann Institute of Science, The Times of Israel said this is the first time an advanced embryo has been created from any single type of stem cell.

Professor Hanna added: “Great, no sperm, no egg, no uterus, but in eight days, we’ve created embryos from stem cells, which is a third of a mouse’s pregnancy and has a beating heart. “

Previous attempts to create an embryo without sperm and eggs led to the formation of blastocysts, structures that formed early in the development of mammals.

In the current experiment, scientists developed artificial models that showed 95% similarity to normal embryos in internal structures and gene expression patterns of different cell types.

Professor Hanna said the research could one day be used to grow “human embryo-like structures”.

“The next challenge is to understand how stem cells know what to do – how to assemble themselves into organs and get to their designated place within the embryo,” he added. Because our system is transparent unlike the uterus, it could be useful in modeling birth defects and implanting human embryos.”

In addition to helping to reduce the use of animals in research, artificial embryo models can be a reliable source of cells, tissues and organs for future transplantation.

“Instead of developing a different protocol for growing each type of cell, such as kidney or liver cells, one day we will be able to create a model similar to an artificial embryo and then isolate the cells we need . We don’t need it. It dictates the development of organs how they should do it,” he said. Hannah continued. It is developing. The fetus itself does this best.”

It is worth noting that stem cells can transform into any tissue or organ, so the possibility of using these cells to repair spinal cord injuries, graft damaged hearts or treat diabetes has long been attractive- attraction to scientists. But transforming these cells into complex, functional tissues has proven difficult. Hanna and his team now hope that tracking the early stages of this developmental process will provide important clues.

“Our goal is not to have ectopic pregnancy in mice or any other species. We are already having trouble making organs, and we need to figure out how stem cells can become organs. The fetus does that. We started there because the uterus is a box,” Hanna said. Black, not transparent.

Source: Independent