A Lab Has Created a Synthetic Human Embryo Without a Fertilized Egg

In Israel, a lab fine-tuned the process needed to concoct a synthetic human embryo, which could be used to study birth defects and more.

By Matt Hrodey
Sep 12, 2023 7:00 PM
Synthetic human embryo at day 14 of development
A synthetic embryo at day 14 of development. (Credit: Jacob Hanna)

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Research involving human embryos is famously difficult and fraught with ethical quandaries, but a new synthetically derived model could open new doors in the study of infertility and birth defects.

The model comes from the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel and follows years of research by labs around the world into producing a similar clump of cells. The team led by professor Jacob Hanna claims that their latest iteration is the most advanced so far and contains all the hallmarks of a human embryo that has grown inside a human womb for 14 days.

Synthetic Human Embryo Controversy

The advancement raises a host of ethical questions that the scientific world is just beginning to grapple with.

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