A team of scientists used an efficient electronic method of reprogramming stem cells to monitor fetal movements. A method of supplying nutrients to the placenta through blood flow is adopted.
“In most studies to date, specialized cells are often difficult to produce or are unnatural. They form composites instead of well-structured tissue suitable for transplantation. We were able to overcome these obstacles by uncovering the self-competence encoded in stem cells,” said Weizmann, professor in the Department of Molecular Genetics, who led the study. Professor Jacob Hanna said.
The researchers divided the stem cells into three groups. While one is destined to develop into fetal organs, one of the genes of the other two was examined 48 hours earlier to determine whether the placenta or eggs were more responsive.
Only 0.5% or 50 spheres formed out of about 10,000 of those combined in an electronically controlled device. Each of these later developed into an embryo-like structure. Scientists who observed the placenta and yolk sacs that form outside the embryos said that they look like natural embryos.
Synthetic embryos continue to develop for 8.5 days, roughly half of a mouse’s 20-day pregnancy. Early organs are formed at this stage. It contains a beating heart, circulating blood stem cells, a brain with shaped folds, a neural tube, and an intestinal tract.