A biotechnology company wants to create “synthetic” human embryos that will be used to harvest organs to facilitate difficult medical procedures such as transplants, but also to treat conditions such as infertility, genetic diseases and aging.
Renewal Bio , a company based in Israel, claimed to have successfully used advanced stem cell and artificial wombs technology to create mouse embryos that continued to develop for several days.
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The embryos remained alive for some time and had an intestinal tract, the rudiments of a brain and a beating heart, according to MIT Technology Review.
It is believed to be the first time a "synthetic" embryo has been created and kept alive at such an advanced stage without the use of sperm, eggs or a uterus.
Jacob Hanna, a researcher at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel, and founder of the biotechnology company Renewal Bio, now wants to apply the same technology to human embryos.
“The embryo is the best organ-building machine and the best 3D bioprinter — we tried to mimic what it does,” he said.
According to the researcher, all this could help people better understand the formation of organs in the early stages.
“We show that embryonic stem cells create entire synthetic embryos, meaning they include the placenta and the yolk sac that surrounds the embryo,” Hanna said in a statement.
“We are really excited about this work and what it will bring“.
Hanna told the Guardian that the synthetic mouse embryos were not “real” as they did not have the potential to develop into real, living animals.
Renewal Bio wants to repeat the process with human embryos that will serve as a source of tissues and cells that can be used to treat various medical conditions.
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According to the company's website, Renewal Bio's mission is to reverse "declining birth rates and rapid population aging."
“To solve these complex and intricate issues, Renewal Bio aims to make humanity younger and healthier by harnessing the power of new technology stem cell,” the website states.
“In Israel and many other countries, such as the US and the UK, it is legal and we have ethical approval to do this with pluripotent human stem cells,” Hanna said.
However, not everyone is on board with the idea. Both laypeople and experts, such as Dr. James Briscoe, who heads the team at the Francis Crick Institute in London, have expressed concerns. Dr. Briscoe believes it is important to discuss a better way of regulating labor before developing human synthetic embryos.
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“Synthetic human embryos are not an immediate prospect. We know less about human embryos than mouse embryos, and the ineffectiveness of synthetic mouse embryos suggests that translating findings to humans requires further development,” Briscoe said, adding: “Now is the time to consider the best legal and ethical framework for regulating research and use of human synthetic embryos and to review current regulations.”
Also, Professor Paul Tesar, a geneticist at Case Western Reserve University, said: “There will always be a gray area, but as scientists and as a society we need to come together to decide where the red line is and determine what is ethically acceptable.”
Source: nypost.com
