Embryos synthesized in vitro for the first time -already twice this year
Two just-published articles reported the development of mouse embryos from stem cells, involving no eggs, no sperm and no uterus. Here is an overview of the works and a reflection on the relevance of getting society informed about scientific advances.
Two papers published in the last two months in the prestigious journals Cell and Nature studied the generation of “synthetic” mouse embryos ex utero from pluripotent stem cells as the starting material. Surprisingly, the studies found that the development from a pre-gastrulation-like state until early organogenesis is possible outside the mammalian uterus and without any eggs and sperm cells. Like it or not this is happening, and given that science advances so fast the public needs to get properly informed about these kinds of experiments, their potential applications in medicine, and also their possible ethical consequences. Because someday important decisions will need to be taken, and nothing is worse than taking decisions without information. Neither pro- nor against this research, my article only overviews the two works and points to some important sources of further information by professionals.
Two papers published in the last two months (August and September of 2022) in the prestigious journals Cell and Nature studied the generation of “synthetic” mouse embryos ex utero, starting from pluripotent stem cells. The studies found that development from pre-gastrulation until early organogenesis is possible outside the mammalian uterus and without any eggs and sperms -simply from pluripotent stem cells. The synthetic mice embryos grew up to around one-third of the total mouse pregnancy time, growing organs that included beating hearts, gut tubes, and even small brain and neural structures. Moreover, despite the lack of maternal tissue the biosystems generated elements that support the embryo’s life “from outside of it”, such as the umbilical cord, the amnion and a yolk sac with blood islands.
Over the last 2 decades, studies established that pluripotent stem cells (yes, including human cells) can self-assemble in vitro into organized embryo-like structures. The two new studies went considerably further, demonstrating that the self-organizing capacity of pluripotent stem cells is actually enough to develop organoids and rudimentary “maturation chambers” in vitro.
Growing tissues and organs has per se direct applications, as this could form the basis of methods that create new material for transplantation in humans -of great importance to medicine, of course. On the other hand, growing full embryos and going further would raise unprecedented, unthought-of ethical concerns. Could someday a full baby be grown out of tissue completely in a lab, without a biological mother? Nihilistically, it appears to me that a sufficiently advanced civilization should indeed be technically capable of achieving this. After all, these two papers have shown that our own civilization has already developed the technology required to achieve one-third of gestation in vitro as of 2022. Of course, as the articles mention this is the “easiest” third of the total; therefore we might still be technically hundreds of years away -yet again, science advances very fast.
Clearly, then, continued discussion of the ethical aspects of this kind of research among experts and with society is critical. For this to take place smoothly and to avoid surprises and conflict, the public must be kept informed about progress in a rigorous, unbiased, scientifically sound but accessible manner. Hopefully, this article has set you, dear reader, on the track to get yourself informed. I now recommend you this non-technical but deeper article by the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology. Below I link this article and also the two peer-reviewed papers that fostered this piece.
References and further reads
The two peer-reviewed papers:
And a summary from the magazine Focus on Reproduction, an online publication of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology. The article not only makes a brief summary with the key findings of the papers but also discusses potential applications and the ethical implications that these technologies raise.
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