Abstract
Integrated pseudo-embryos ; definition, characterization and mouse/human comparison. Experimental potential and some ethical and social issues.
This fourth lesson deals with the most advanced form of the various human pseudo-embryos covered in this 2024lecture, SEM (stem cell-derived embryo models) integrated embryoids. After a few definitions, experiments leading to the production conditions of these embryoids are described. Next, the analysis of these integrated pseudo-embryos is discussed, involving both cellular labeling with specific antibodies, single-cell RNA analysis and approaches such as ATAC-seq. Some general conclusions are given, the main one being that these biological objects bear many resemblances to real human embryos, as also shown by the presence of highly specialized cell types. However, these embryoids do not have all the characteristics required to be considered real human embryos. Nonetheless, these integrated SEM embryoids are likely to be real assets in our understanding of certain mechanisms of human development, which until now have remained inaccessible for logistical and ethical reasons.
The lecture (and the course) concludes with a brief discussion of some of the ethical and legal issues associated with these new technologies and their potential future uses.
