Chinese scientists reconstructed a 3D model of a human embryo within two to three weeks after fertilization, which opens a new door into very early human embryonic development.
Out of ethical concerns, in-vitro culture of human embryos is limited to 14 days, and therefore, the human embryo growth between 14 and 21 days after fertilization is usually considered a "black box."
The researchers from the Institute of Zoology, at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and China Agricultural University conducted high-resolution profiling on 38,562 gene spots of a human embryo and then constructed its 3D model by integrating gene expression patterns and spatial information.
Also, they have investigated the dynamic activity of signaling pathways along the embryonic body axis, according to the study published this week in the journal Cell.
The study has far-reaching clinical implications for understanding the miscarriages and fetal disorders in early embryonic development, said the researchers. (Xinhua)
The world-renowned journal Nature Thursday released its annual list of ten people who mattered in science in 2015, which includes one Chinese scientist whose work in human embryo gene editing has caused repeated debate in the academic circle. The explosion of interest in CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing has been a major story of this year, and for this reason biologist Junjiu Huang at Sun Yat-Sen University in Guangzhou earned a place on the list.
A group of Chinese scientists have revealed that they genetically modified human embryos to make them HIV-resistant, a controversial move that may reignite an ethics debate but otherwise shows China's ambition to take the lead in gene-editing research. Researchers at Guangzhou Medical University in China have altered an immune gene in human embryos using a technique known as CRISPR-Cas9, according to a paper published in the Journal of Assisted Reproduction and Genetics on April 6.
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