The laboratory successfully cultivated the structure of artificial embryos, which will enable the supply of unlimited embryos.
Author: Ye Allure Release date: 2018-07-25
According to foreign media reports, researchers now use mouse stem cells to create an embryo-like structure that "very close" to creating artificial embryos. This breakthrough study brings hope that one of the biggest reasons for infertility can be revealed - the embryo cannot be implanted in the uterus. For many years, biologists have been trying to grow embryos from stem cells to achieve unlimited embryo supply for medical research.
This embryo-like structure has a "gastrulation" - a key part of the life course. It is reported that when the embryonic cells self-organize to form the correct structure of the embryo, "primary intestinal embryo formation" appears. But in the laboratory, the growth of stem cells into a complex three-dimensional structure like an embryo, after many failures, severely defeated the research enthusiasm of scientists. Embryonic stem cells themselves cannot be transformed into cylindrical embryos, but need help from other cells in the body.
The international research team led by the University of Cambridge in the UK has previously created a simpler structure similar to artificially cultivated mouse embryos. He used two types of stem cells - called the "universal cells" of the body, and used a 3D jelly scaffold to maintain stem cell growth.
The final structure consists of embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and embryonic trophoblasts (TSCs) that form the placenta, which are very similar to natural embryos. However, the “raw gut formation process†described by the famous South African biologist Lewis Wolpert disappeared, and the “primary gut formation process†is the most important stage of human development.
The "primary embryogenesis process" occurs in the stage when the embryo changes from a monolayer structure to a three-layer structure, which determines what kind of tissue or organ the cell develops afterwards. Currently, the research team has made three types of stem cells to further develop embryo-like structures.
By adding primitive endoderm stem cells (PESCs), the resulting embryos undergo a "progestogen formation process" that organizes their own embryos into a three-layer structure owned by all animals. Researchers in the journal Nature Cell Biology pointed out that the timing, structure and pattern of gene activity will reflect the development of natural embryos.
Professor Zernicka-Goetz revealed that their latest technology can be used to create embryo-like structures that are "surprisingly successful." She said: "The artificial embryo we cultivated in the culture dish has experienced the most important event in life. It is now very close to the real embryo, and for further development it must be implanted in the mother or artificial placenta."
Researchers believe that now they can better understand how the three types of stem cells interact and ensure the normal development of the embryo. They hope to further experiment with human stem cells and seek to grow human embryos from stem cells.
Professor Zernicka-Goetz claims that the study will help to study the development of embryos after 14 days of human pregnancy. Currently, UK law only allows for the study of embryos in the laboratory for up to 14 days. Through the latest research, we have mastered a method of simulating embryo development in a culture dish. Therefore, we can accurately understand what happened during the special period of embryonic life, and why sometimes this process will fail.
Source: Sina Technology
YT-88
YT-88
Shenzhen Sunshine Technology Co.,Ltd , https://www.szyatwin.com