Laboratory-grown sperm, placentas and embryos in animals will help us gauge why some pregnancies don’t reach full term, but whether these procedures could one day be safe or even ethical in humans is unclear
Health
1 January 2023
A synthetic mouse embryo (left) and a natural mouse embryo (right) showing brain and heart formation Amadei and Handford
Further advances to the production of synthetic reproductive cells and even organisms in 2023 could boost our understanding of human fertility and why many pregnancies don’t reach full term.
In 2022, such research was carried out in non-human animals, namely rodents. This marked a significant step forward, but also raised the question of whether these procedures would be safe in humans or even ethical.