Dr Michelle Dickinson: nanotechnologist on the creation of lab-grown synthetic embryos

To make a human embryo you need a sperm and an egg – or at least that was the case until this week when new research was announced where an embryo was made without either of those two things!  The ‘synthetic human embryo’ was made by manipulating an embryonic stem cell to grow into an embryo-like structure. The study, announced at the International Society for Stem Cell Research conference opens up new avenues for the study of recurrent miscarriage and genetic disorders. It also opens up big moral questions around what these structures should be classed as and what the limitations should be around their research.  While this study produced embryos that didn’t have the potential to form a brain or a beating heart, it is possible to do so and has been done in mouse and monkey models.  The embryo structures grown in this study reached the beginning of a developmental milestone known as gastrulation, when the embryo transforms from being a continuous sheet of cells to forming distinct cell lines and setting up the basic axes of the body.  The research was then stopped, however questions arise as to how long scientists should be allowed to grow these embryos and if the current 14 day rule imposed for donated embryo research should apply.  It's a great example of where the science moves much faster than the legislation, but is potentially a great discovery for scientists looking into the ‘black box’ period of embryonic development.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.