Baby without sperm and egg? Scientists create synthetic human embryos in major leap

Scientists have developed synthetic human embryos using stem cells. Prof Magdalena Żernicka-Goetz, of the University of Cambridge and the California Institute of Technology, described the work in a plenary address at the International Society for Stem Cell Research’s annual meeting in Boston, United States.

“Our human model is the first three-lineage human embryo model that specifies amnion and germ cells, precursor cells of egg and sperm,” Żernicka-Goetz told the Guardian. “It’s beautiful and created entirely from embryonic stem cells.”