Professor Magdalena Zernichka-Goetz from Cambridge University announced this in Boston on the occasion of the annual meeting of the International Society for Stem Cell Research, The Guardian notes. And, despite the fact that the study has not yet been made public, reactions “for” and “against” have not been slow.

According to the researcher in question, geneticists have succeeded in creating human embryos from stem cells, reprogramming their role, without the need for germ cells. At least at this level, embryos do not yet have a heart, an early brain, but they do have the cells to develop such organs. So far, they have not been allowed to grow for more than 14 days, but the results are encouraging, according to experts.

In initial studies in mice, the embryos reached the stage where they could develop the intestinal tract, brain, heart and all other organs. Everything starts exclusively with one stem cell, which generates the process of embryo formation. Since then, several companies have also begun human stem cell trials, and the results have just been announced.

The aforementioned researcher wanted to emphasize that such progress could answer many questions related to genetic abnormalities, miscarriages and other medical problems. However, she realizes that the world is not ready for such a step in research, just as the legislation is not completely settled. For example, a major ethical issue concerns how embryos should be handled. Can they be considered on the same level as natural embryos? So, should they be treated equally?

Next comes the question of the legality of such research, because many countries have already banned such research by law. Last but not least, there are also question marks about the potential of such embryos to develop to the full stage of a functional individual.

Returning to tests on laboratory mice, they showed that even no synthetic embryo could reach maturity. Recently, in April, similar tests conducted in China on monkeys gave the same result. After the embryos were implanted in the surrogate mothers, pregnancy lasted only a few days, as it did in mice.

There is no universally accepted answer as to what exactly causes a miscarriage. Either a biological barrier or technical errors. However, it can be said for sure that a step has been taken. We will see how far the profile research will go, depending on which legislation will be adopted.

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