For the first time, scientists have created a "synthetic embryo"

The embryo is called synthetic because it was created without a fertilized egg, and it is expected that in the near future, the study of the structure will provide a more accurate understanding of how the organs and tissues of natural embryos develop.

Scientists also believe that the procedure could reduce the number of animal experiments, and in the future, a new source of human cell and tissue transplants could be obtained. For example, the skin cells of a leukemia patient can be transformed into bone marrow cells in order to cure the disease with their help.

Last year, the same research group developed a mechanical uterus that allowed natural embryos to grow for days outside the mother's womb.

During the research, some cells were treated with chemicals, so that their genetic program was "switched on" by which the placenta or corpus luteum developed from them. Other cells developed into other organs and tissues without intervention.

Most of the stem cells did not develop an embryo-like structure, but about half a percent of them were organized into spheres in which various tissues and organs grew. When compared to natural mouse embryos, the synthetic embryos were 95 percent identical in terms of their internal structure and genetic makeup. As far as the scientists could tell, the formed organs were functional.

According to Jacob Hanna, the head of the research, synthetic embryos are not real embryos, they do not have the possibility of developing into a living animal, or at least it did not when they were implanted into the wombs of mice.

(Source: marmalade.co.hu; MTI | Image: pixabay.com)