Human embryo models are getting more realistic — raising ethical questions

Mallapaty, Smriti

3 min read Original article ↗

Dozens of labs around the world are striving to grow models of human embryos to study development, fertility and therapies. They are entering uncharted ethical territory.

A composite image of fifteen images of iBlastoids with different cellular staining.

Models of human embryos at the blastocyst stage, which are called blastoids. Credit: Monash Univ.

Under his microscope, Jun Wu could see several tiny spheres, each less than 1 millimetre wide. They looked just like human embryos: a dark cluster of cells surrounded by a cavity, and then another ring of cells.

Nature 633, 268-271 (2024)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-024-02915-3

Updates & Corrections

  • Correction 17 September 2024: An earlier version of the animated image erroneously stated that the model represented a 16-cell embryo.

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