More and more, our world is moving towards the scientific fantasy that we once only dreamed of. Scientists at the University of Michigan have developed a device capable of mass-producing synthetic cells that closely resemble young human embryos.
“This new system allows us to achieve a superior efficiency to generate these human embryo-like structures,” says Jianping Fu, Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Michigan, who led the research.
The device that Fu and his team created is a thin square made of silicone, containing four wells around a narrow channel. Researchers then added several chemicals to stem cells in order to grow several key structures of human embryos.
Many researchers have applauded the study, calling it an important step towards studying the early stages of human embryonic development. According to Fu, this device provides the opportunity to study human embryo-like structures, as well as “open what we called the so-called black box of human development.”
The researchers at the University of Michigan are not the first to create synthetic embryos, also known as embryoids. These embryoids are made by using human stem cells to form similar structures found in early-stage human embryos.
A long-standing scientific standard regarding embryonic research bars scientists from conducting research on embryos that have developed beyond 14 days. However, these new synthetic embryos are not subject to this guideline. Fu hopes that this research will provide scientists will important insight into the early stages of human development, helping to prevent birth defects and miscarriages.
“It’s a major advance in the knowledge of early human development,” says Ali Brivanlou, an Embryologist at Rockefeller University. “We’re opening up windows to aspects of development that we have never seen before. This knowledge is really the Holy Grail of human embryology.”
Many other scientists and bioethicists agree with Brivanlou. But, as with any new scientific development, the study has raised multiple ethical questions within the scientific community. One concern that has been raised is the fear of how similar these synthetic embryos are to complete human embryos.
Because of such concerns that have been brought up, Fu and his team purposely created incomplete models, missing key structures that provide nourishment to the embryos.
“I understand that there may be people sensitive when you see that you can massively produce organized embryonic structures. People will be concerned. I understand that. I guess we are pushing the boundary. But I want to make 100% clear that we have no intention of trying to generate a synthetic structure [that] looks like a complete human embryo,” Fu says. “We have zero intention to do that.”
