Scientists create world’s first ‘synthetic embryos’

Researchers have created the world’s first “synthetic embryos” in a feat that bypassed the need for sperm, eggs and fertilisation.

Scientists at the Weizmann Institute in Israel found that stem cells from mice could be made to self-assemble into early embryolike structures with an intestinal tract, the beginnings of a brain and a beating heart. Known as synthetic embryos, the living structures are expected to drive deeper understanding of how organs and tissues form during the development of natural embryos.

But researchers believe the work could also reduce animal experimentation and pave the way for new sources of cells and tissues for human transplantation.