How scientists grew the world's first 'synthetic' embryo without eggs or sperm

Researchers from University of Cambridge began their experiment in a lab with three primary embryonic stem cells. Using only a mixture of stem cells taken out from a mouse, scientists from the University of Cambridge were able to create the miracle of life – a synthetic embryo with a beating heart and even a brain. During the first fertilisation in humans, three types of stem cells develop – one that will eventually form the tissues of the body and the other two that support the embryo’s development. The University of Cambridge said in a statement, “One of these extraembryonic stem cell types will become the placenta, which connects the foetus to the mother and provides oxygen and nutrients; and the second is the yolk sac, where the embryo grows and where it gets its nutrients from in early development.” Other body parts grown in labs Last month, scientists and researchers from the University of Toronto and the University of Montreal in Canada grew a piece of heart under lab conditions.