An Israeli biotechnology company wants to repeat a previous experiment that
successfully used stem cells to make an artificial mouse embryo, but this
time using human cells.
According to a publication released in the
journal Cell
on August 1, researchers at Weizmann's Molecular Genetics Department created
"synthetic mouse embryos" in a jar without the use of sperm, eggs, or a womb. According to Marianne
Guenot of Insider, it was the first time the procedure had been successfully
conducted.
The replica embryos were not "real," according to Jacob Hanna, the
experiment's lead researcher, because they could not grow into fully formed
mice. However, researchers saw that the artificial embryos had an intestinal
system, a neural tube, a beating heart, and blood circulation.
Following the success of the mouse experiment, Hanna told
MIT Technology Review
that he is attempting to reproduce the findings using human cells, including
his own.
In a statement, Hanna stated that "the embryo is the best organ-making
machine and the best 3D bioprinter — we tried to emulate what it
does."
According to some scientists,
much more study is necessary
before artificial human embryos are feasible.
Hanna launched
Renewal Bio in Israel
with the goal of using this knowledge for organ tissue transplants to treat
age-related problems including infertility and genetic illnesses.
For instance, the MIT Technology Review suggested that embryonic blood
cells could be able to support immunocompromised systems.
According to the corporate website, Renewal Bio considers "declining birth
rates and fast aging populations" to be among of the world's most important
issues.
According to the company's website, "Renewal Bio seeks to make humanity
younger and healthier by leveraging the power of the new stem cell
technology to solve these complex and compounding issues."
Acting Renewal Bio CEO Omri Amirav-Drory told the MIT Technology Review
that the business didn't want to "overpromise" or terrify people with the
prospective technology but that Hanna's experiment was "amazing."
According to a 2017 report published in the journal eLife, the use of human
embryo clones for research has regularly sparked ethical questions among the
scientific community, including the possibility that
artificial embryos
could feel pain or have awareness.
Hanna suggested to the MIT Technology Review that he might be able to avoid
these moral dilemmas by developing artificial human embryos that have "no
lungs, no heart, or no brain."
