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Embryo-like structures created from human stem cells

New method makes it easier to create structures to model early human development, but raises ethical issues.
  1. David Cyranoski

    1. David Cyranoski reports for Nature from Shanghai, China.

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Biologists have developed a way to use human stem cells to make structures that mimic early embryos. The embryo-like structures are the first to produce rudimentary reproductive cells; and also go through stages that resemble several other landmarks in early human development.

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doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-019-02654-w

Read the related News & Views: ‘Human embryo implantation modelled in microfluidic channels’.

Updates & Corrections

  • Correction 16 September 2019: An earlier version of the story stated that Jianping Fu was stem-cell biologist.

References

  1. Zheng, Y. et al. Nature https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-019-1535-2 (2019).

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  2. Clark, A. T. Nature https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-019-02563-y (2019).

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  3. Shao, Y. et al. Nature Commun. 8, 208 (2017).

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