Human stem cell-based embryo models: innovation, ethics, and policy
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: The aim of this White Paper is to establish a foundational framework for research, technological development, and regulation in the emerging field of stem cell-based embryo models (SCBEMs). These models, generated from Pluripotent Stem Cells, are designed to recapitulate essential events in early stages of human development. They have the potential to illuminate the early stages of embryo development and implantation and hold promise as an avenue to address global health challenges, including infertility and pregnancy loss, congenital, neonatal and adult conditions, and the need for organ transplants. While SCBEMs are not a substitute for human embryos, their tractability for large-scale analysis and their abilities to model the earliest stages of embryonic development suggest that they will have a significant impact on reproductive biology and regenerative medicine. But SCBEMs do not just raise novel scientific questions; they pose ethical and legal questions that need to be addressed. The paper stems from a meeting of a core group of researchers that met at the Institut Pasteur in Paris in November 2024 and represents the views of an extended group that has worked to elaborate the documents as a consensus for the field. Here, we provide a framework to guide research in this new field. We do this by summarizing the state of the science, assessing current SCBEM research in relation to its primary future applications and addressing the need for continued ethical and regulatory oversight associated with this new field.
Source: Human Reproduction
Authors: Alfonso Martinez Arias, Nicolas Rivron, Shahragim Tajbakhsh, Josephine Johnston, Cantas Alev, Laure Bally-Cuif, Elvan Böke, Tommaso Cavazza, Emma Cave, David Cyranoski, Laurent David, Miguel A Esteban, Jianping Fu, Niels Geijsen, Nienke de Graeff, Jacob H Hanna, Nick Hopwood, Maneesha S Inamdar, Fredrik Lanner, Brigitte Leeners, Zhen Liu, Maitre Jean Leon, Gabriella Minchiotti, Naomi Moris, Megan Munsie, Kathy K Niakan, Olivier Pourquie, Vincent Pasque, Martin Pera, Yaojin Peng, Sophie Petropoulos, Sharad Ramanathan, Janet Rossant, Peter Rugg-Gunn, Mitinori Saitou, Karen Sermon, Jose Silva, Thorold Theunissen, Margherita Turco, John Wallingford, Hongmei Wang, Aryeh Warmflash, Jun Wu, Leqian Yu
Institutions: Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Institute of Molecular Biotechnology, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna Biocenter, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Institut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, Biologie du Développement et Cellules Souches, University of Otago, Kyoto University, Institute for the Advanced Study of Human Biology, Kyoto University, Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, University of Zurich, University Hospital Zurich, Durham University, Inserm, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Nantes, Center for Research in Transplantation and Translational Immunology, Nantes Université, BGI Group (China), University of Tabuk, University of Michigan, Leiden University Medical Center, Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Stem Cell Medicine, Weizmann Institute of Science, University of Cambridge, Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, Karolinska University Hospital, Karolinska Institutet, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Université Paris Sciences et Lettres, Génétique et biologie du développement, Institut Curie, Institute of Genetics and Biophysics, National Research Council, The Francis Crick Institute, The University of Melbourne, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, The Loke Centre for Trophoblast Research, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard University, KU Leuven, Jackson Laboratory, Institute of Zoology, State Key Laboratory of Stem Cell and Reproductive Biology, Université de Montréal, Massachusetts General Hospital, University of Toronto, Hospital for Sick Children, Gairdner Foundation, Babraham Institute, Wellcome/MRC Cambridge Stem Cell Institute, Center for iPS Cell Research and Application, Kyoto University, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Guangzhou Laboratory, Washington University in St. Louis, Friedrich Miescher Institute, The University of Texas at Austin, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing Institute for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
Language: English
Subfield: Molecular Biology
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $4,630
Funders: Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, European Commission, Agence Nationale de la Recherche, ZonMw, Fonds De La Recherche Scientifique - FNRS, Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek, KU Leuven, Novo Nordisk, Vetenskapsrådet, Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Universität Zürich, Vlaamse regering, National Key Research and Development Program of China
Awards: Unravelling the role of forces in early human development with blastoids, nanocomposite hydrogels and computational modeling, Building the early human embryo, G175125242, G223010545, G3216467575, Uncovering factors of early human embryo development, Building a virtual human embryo with stem cell-based models, single-cell omics and computational modelling, Stages and Mechanisms of Somatic Cell Reprogramming to Pluripotency, Endoplasmatisch reticulum en mitochondria: gemeenschappelijke drijvers van de humane β cel en neuronale lotsbestemming, G5267433167, G5297101379, G5546203492, Institute for Stem Cell Science and Regenerative Medicine - to develop organoid models to help de-risk targets and establish new programs through reagent generation for the NHC initiative., The regulatory effect of 3D chromatin organization on genes resistant to reprogramming, G5956110236, G6854313405, G7240651115, G7284079062, G7360159043, G7376787254, G7910048686, Decoding Early Human Development Using Novel Single-Cell Technologies and Stem-Cell Based Embryo Models, G8127171342, G941317200
OpenAlex ID: W7140192977