Protected Growth

The protective environment of the womb supports growth from just a few cells to a human child. But it also shields those cells from the prying eyes of scientists, for whom practical and ethical limitations prevent the detailed experimentation needed to unpick the secrets of early life. Instead, researchers have tried to recreate the cells and conditions in the lab, but like copying a great work of art, replicating the subtle magic and complexity is tricky. A new study has generated a particular cell, the extraembryonic mesoderm cell, from human stem cells (precursors able to develop into any embryonic cell). In embryos these cells generate blood, help link to the placenta, and form the early umbilical tube. The new creations (pictured, red, with placental cells in green) closely replicate their natural counterparts, and may help shed light on hidden moments of growth, ultimately improving our understanding of fertility and its complications.

Written by Anthony Lewis

Anthony Lewis

Writer

Ant was the web editor in the early days of BPoD, and has since worked with the UK’s top science organisations as a writer and multimedia producer. He now splits his time between freelance work and managing multimedia at The Lancet.

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• Image from work by Thi Xuan Ai Pham and Amitesh Panda and colleagues
• Department of Development and Regeneration, Leuven Stem Cell Institute, Leuven Institute for Single-cell Omics (LISCO), KU Leuven-University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
• Image copyright held by Amitesh Panda (KU Leuven)
• Research published in Cell Stem Cell, September 2022