Unlocking the black box of early human development without an egg, sperm, or womb [Video]

Stem cell biologist Jacob Hanna has received a lot of worldwide attention since his team at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel created a synthetic human embryo.

He was at a human reproduction conference in Montreal this week to discuss his ground-breaking work.

The living structure, made from stem cells cultured in a lab, was created without an egg, sperm, or a womb. The model gives a window into the earliest stage of development when cells are rapidly multiplying.

“I call it the big drama, when a ball of stem cells becomes an organ filled embryo. And the rest of pregnancy is just growth,” he said.

The first month is also when most miscarriages happen, and developmental defects occur.

Studying this period is almost impossible since embryos are too small to be seen via ultrasound and most countries, including Canada, do not allow embryos in a lab beyond 14 …