Another step in an “explosion of new methods and ideas for studying early development” of human embryos comes from Israel, where researchers have successfully grown into mouse embryos for 12 days, that’s around half of the animal’s natural movement time. The same would be rough for man as the first child of a trimestre. They published an article in Nature this week.
Ectogenesis seems to be getting closer – a Brave New World view of contractions in the miscarriage of unborn babies.
Lead author Jacob Hanna from the Weizmann Institute of Science was interviewed about his work in MIT Technology Review. He admits that there are ethical issues.
“I understand the difficulties. I understand. You’re entering the field of genitals, ”says Hanna. However, he says researchers are already experimenting with and destroying additional embryos from IVF clinics.
“So I would claim to grow it to day 40 and then get rid of it,” Hanna said. “Instead of getting cloth from shortening, let’s take an explosive machine and grow it. ”
At this time, mouse embryos will only develop if they have been attached to the wall of the uterus, at least briefly. But Hanna says her team would like the embryo to grow completely in vitro.
And if the 14-day limit for the growth of human embryos is removed, he looks forward to conducting similar research on human embryos.
“Once the guidance is updated, I can apply, and it will be accepted. It’s a very important test, ”says Hanna. “We need to see human embryos gastrulate and form organs and start to tempt it. The benefit of growing human embryos to week three, week four, week five is extremely useful. I think these tests should be considered anyway. If we can get to a progressive human embryo, we can learn so much. ”
Eventually it may be possible to grow embryos for their organs, according to William Hurlbut, a doctor and bioethicist at Stanford University. “I don’t think organ harvesting is so far away. He could finally get there. But it’s awful, because one person’s boundary isn’t someone’s end. ”
Michael Cook is the editor of BioEdge
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