Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • COMMENT

Why researchers should use human embryo models with caution

Scientists should carefully consider whether embryo models based on human stem cells are essential to their work because of the associated practical and ethical challenges.
  1. Janet Rossant

    1. Janet Rossant is president of the Gairdner Foundation, and senior scientist emeritus at The Hospital for Sick Children, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.

    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed  Google Scholar

  2. Jianping Fu

    1. Jianping Fu is a professor in the department of mechanical engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA.

    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed  Google Scholar

Close-up of a blue-gloved hand lifting the lid off a multi-well plate

In the past few months, researchers have made rapid advances in using stem cells to build human embryo models. Credit: Tek Image/Science Photo Library

The first few weeks of a human embryo’s development are shrouded in mystery. Researchers cannot observe embryos that are nestled away in their mother’s womb until they are large enough to be detected by ultrasound, about three weeks after conception. Few human embryos are donated to research, and regulations in many countries prevent those few from being studied beyond a stage equivalent to 14 days of natural development.

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Nature 622, 454-456 (2023)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-023-03062-x

References

  1. Weatherbee, B. A. T. et al. Nature https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-06368-y (2023).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Pedroza, M. et al. Nature https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-06354-4 (2023).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Oldak, B. et al. Nature https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-06604-5 (2023).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Ai, Z. et al. Cell Res. 33, 661–678 (2023).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Liu, L. et al. Cell 186, 3776–3792 (2023).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Karvas, R. M. et al. Cell Stem Cell 30, 1148–1165 (2023).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Rossant, J. & Tam, P. P. L. Stem Cell Rep. 16, 1031–1038 (2021).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Terhune, A. H., Bok, J., Sun, S. & Fu, J. Development 149, dev201015 (2022).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Macklon, N. S., Geraedts, J. P. M. & Fauser, B. C. J. M. Hum. Reprod. Update 8, 333–343 (2002).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Sawai, T., Minakawa, T., Pugh, J., Akatsuka, K., Yamashita, J. K. & Fujita, M. EMBO Rep. 21, e50984 (2020).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Rivron, N. C., Martinez Arias, A., Pera, M. F., Moris, N. & M’hamdi, H. I. Cell 186, 3548–3557 (2023).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Zhao, C. et al. Genome Res. 32, 1627–1641 (2022).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Amadei, G. et al. Nature 610, 143–153 (2022).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Tarazi, S. et al. Cell 185, 3290–3306 (2022).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Warmflash, A., Sorre, B., Etoc, F., Siggia, E. D. & Brivanlou, A. H. Nature Methods 11, 847–854 (2014).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Zheng, Y. et al. Nature 573, 421–425 (2019).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Turco, M. Y. et al. Nature 564, 263–267 (2018).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. Karzbrun, E. et al. Nature 599, 268–272 (2021).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Moris, N. et al. Nature 582, 410–415 (2020).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  20. Olmsted, Z. T. & Paluh, J. L. Nature Commun. 12, 3020 (2021).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Competing Interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Subjects

Latest on:

Nature Careers

Jobs

  • Research Associate - Metabolism

    Houston, Texas (US)

    Baylor College of Medicine (BCM)

  • Postdoc Fellowships

    Train with world-renowned cancer researchers at NIH? Consider joining the Center for Cancer Research (CCR) at the National Cancer Institute

    Bethesda, Maryland

    NIH National Cancer Institute (NCI)

  • Faculty Recruitment, Westlake University School of Medicine

    Faculty positions are open at four distinct ranks: Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, Full Professor, and Chair Professor.

    Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China

    Westlake University

  • PhD/master's Candidate

    PhD/master's Candidate    Graduate School of Frontier Science Initiative, Kanazawa University is seeking candidates for PhD and master's students i...

    Japan (JP)

    Kanazawa University

  • Senior Research Assistant in Human Immunology (wet lab)

    Senior Research Scientist in Human Immunology, high-dimensional (40+) cytometry, ICS and automated robotic platforms.

    Boston, Massachusetts (US)

    Boston University Atomic Lab

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing

Search

Advanced search

Quick links