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Cambridge scientists have created a stem cell-derived model of the human embryo in the lab by reprogramming human stem cells. ̽»¨Ö±²¥breakthrough could help research into genetic disorders and in understanding why and how pregnancies fail.

New model embryo, using mouse stem cells, reaches a further point in development than has been achieved in any other stem cell-derived model.

Scientists have identified key molecular events in the developing human embryo between days 7 and 14 - one of the most mysterious, yet critical, stages of our development. 

Genes that are thought to play a role in how the SARS-CoV-2 virus infects our cells have been found to be active in embryos as early as during the second week of pregnancy, say scientists at the ̽»¨Ö±²¥ of Cambridge and the California Institute of Technology (Caltech).

̽»¨Ö±²¥creation of artificial embryos has moved a step forward after an international team of researchers used mouse stem cells to produce artificial embryo-like structures capable of ‘gastrulation’, a key step in the life of any embryo.

With our Postgraduate Open Day fast-approaching (3 Nov), we introduce five PhD candidates who are already making waves at Cambridge.

Last year, Magdalena Zernicka-Goetz, Professor of Mammalian Development and Stem Cell Biology, made not one, but two world-changing discoveries.

Scientists at the ̽»¨Ö±²¥ of Cambridge have managed to create a structure resembling a mouse embryo in culture, using two types of stem cells – the body’s ‘master cells’ – and a 3D scaffold on which they can grow.

Cambridge research that will enable scientists to grow and study embryos in the lab for almost two weeks has been named as the People’s Choice for Science magazine’s ‘Breakthrough of the Year 2016’

A new technique that allows embryos to develop in vitro beyond the implantation stage (when the embryo would normally implant into the womb) has been developed by scientists at the ̽»¨Ö±²¥ of Cambridge allowing them to analyse for the first time key stages of human embryo development up to 13 days after fertilisation. ̽»¨Ö±²¥technique could open up new avenues of research aimed at helping improve the chances of success of IVF.