Search Results for: synthetic embryo

Synthetic embryo or embryo model tech reported in Science: how big is this?

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progression-for-cgs_bs-1-e1488559282646

Can you make a synthetic embryo, also called an embryo model? Developmental biologist Magdalena Zernicka-Goetz has long been on the trail of this seemingly almost uncatchable quarry. With her team’s publication in Science today they took a big step forward on this path even if some major hurdles remain. You can see her discussion of […]

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Beyond naming: embryo models and the importance of public dialogue

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mouse embryo models, human embryo models

Who decides what to name something new in science like “human embryo models”? Also, not to get too philosophical right off the bat, but what is the point of a name? It’s about a shared understanding of what we’re talking about. But, very often, both out in the world and in the various fields of

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Weekly reads: MD Stem Cells, embryo models & headaches, cell therapy trial updates

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dr. jeffrey weiss, MD Stem Cells

There is still plenty of reason to worry about unproven stem cells being marketed in the U.S. and elsewhere around the world. I’ll start with a new item here in the U.S. on a firm called MD Stem Cells and end with a newly published paper about how things are going in Poland on this

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Weekly reads: stembryos or human embryo models, new Macchiarini sentence

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stembryos, embryo models Monash

Researchers have been making stem cell-based embryo models for years now and a few folks have taken to calling these “stembryos.” Other names like gastruloids and blastoids are sometimes used too. “Embryo models” might be the simplest and best name. The embryo model research has advanced relatively quickly from very basic, not very organized structures

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‘We don’t want to freak people out’: about that Jacob Hanna human embryo model startup

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Jacob Hanna Renewal Bio

Stem cell biologist Jacob Hanna has a new startup called Renewal Bio. Its goal is to harvest cells or tissues from human embryo or fetus models for clinical use. I believe that their commercial ambitions have so far outstripped careful thought and discussion in the broader community of researchers. There are major risks here for

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Weekly reads: fibroblasts, gene-editing, Mitalipov, personhood, embryos

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NIH 3T3 fibroblasts ATCC

I have a soft spot for fibroblasts, perhaps because one of the first immortalized cell lines I ever grew was NIH3T3. These are mouse fibroblasts that have been immortalized. They are very useful for a variety of experiments. I used them to study an oncogene called E2A-PBX1. Experience with fibroblasts including 3T3s I was amazed

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Risks rise as ISSCR drops strict 14-day rule on human embryo growth in the lab

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mouse embryos grown outside the lab

Something called the 14-day rule on growing human embryos in the lab helped keep a tough question in check for a long time: when is it ethically wrong or just practically unwise to continue growing a human embryo for research? There is no good answer based on science or anything else. ISSCR moves beyond strict

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When does a human embryo model become the real thing & other tough questions for a new field

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human embryo model mukul tewary sm

A human embryo model is a laboratory-produced collection of living cells that has some key things in common with real human embryos. They are made from pluripotent stem cells, which include embryonic stem cells and induced pluripotent stem cells or iPS cells. This research is both exciting and ethically complicated, raising some difficult questions. Embryo

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New lab-grown blastoids are strikingly similar to human embryos

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blastoids nature paper figure 2

A new word has been added to the lexicon of human stem cell research – blastoids, aka “blastocyst-like structures.” Unlike the familiar three-layered embryo that emerges during the third week of prenatal development, the earlier blastocyst resembles a fluid-filled soccer ball, with a smear of cells on the interior face destined to develop into the

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Papers on artificial embryos and muscle stem cells

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Beccari-et-al-Nature-2018-pub-Fig-1a

If you are sick of the general news lately, I recommend turning to the wonder of cool science like the thought-provoking data in the duo of new stem cell pubs discussed below including on artificial embryos. Synthetic embryos A team led by Alfonso Martinez-Arias reports new findings in their Nature letter in the growing area

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