The ISSCR statement on new research with embryo models
2023-06-26
(Press-News.org) The ISSCR supports research with embryo models derived from human pluripotent stem cells that is conducted with scientific and ethical rigor. ISSCR encourages researchers to continue to follow the ISSCR Guidelines for Stem Cell Research and Clinical Translation when considering research in this emerging area. Recent work presented at the ISSCR 2023 Annual Meeting in Boston, USA this month and additional research posted online as preprints shortly thereafter highlights the rapid pace of progress in the development of stem cell-based embryo models. To aid public understanding of this progress and assist the media in accurate reporting, the ISSCR provides the following information.
Embryo models are organized three-dimensional structures derived from pluripotent stem cells that mimic the developmental processes that occur in early human embryos. Recent advances involve the growth of integrated embryo models, which contain both embryonic and extra-embryonic structures, from embryonic stem cells or induced pluripotent stem cells in laboratory dishes. Use of these models allows experimental modeling of the early stages of embryonic development that occur in the first few weeks of pregnancy. They can facilitate understanding of early pregnancy loss and placental failure, and help researchers gain basic knowledge of the early developmental origins of congenital defects in the heart, nervous system, and other organs.
Unlike some recent media reports describing this research, the ISSCR advises against using the term "synthetic embryo" to describe embryo models, because it is inaccurate and can create confusion. Integrated embryo models are neither synthetic nor embryos. While these models can replicate aspects of the early-stage development of human embryos, they cannot and will not develop to the equivalent of postnatal stage humans. Further, the ISSCR Guidelines prohibit the transfer of any embryo model to the uterus of a human or an animal.
ISSCR’s guidelines recommend that research with integrated embryo models can only proceed with a compelling scientific rationale and after careful review and approval by a specialized scientific and ethical oversight process. Integrated embryo models should also be maintained in culture for the minimum time necessary to achieve the scientific objective. And researchers must also comply with local laws and policies. Adherence to these guidelines ensures that stem cell research is ethical, practical, and appropriate.
The continued development of embryo models represents a step toward better understanding the earliest stages of human development and the developmental defects that can occur at this stage. For more information, consider reviewing Toward Guidelines for Research on Human Embryo Models Formed from Stem Cells and the SnapShot: Embryo models, both published in Stem Cell Reports, as well as the ISSCR Guidelines.
###
END
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
2023-06-26
The gigantic, slimy salamanders known as hellbenders, once the apex predators of many freshwater streams, have been in decline for decades, their population constantly shrinking. No one knew why. William Hopkins, professor in the Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation and director of the Global Change Center at Virginia Tech, suspected the hellbenders’ plight had connections with environmental changes engineered by humans.
Hellbender males select nesting sites on stream bottoms and guard the eggs laid there by females — and occasionally the salamander dads snack on the eggs, consuming ...
2023-06-26
Embargoed for release until 5:00 p.m. ET on Monday 26 June 2023
Annals of Internal Medicine Tip Sheet
@Annalsofim
Below please find summaries of new articles that will be published in the next issue of Annals of Internal Medicine. The summaries are not intended to substitute for the full articles as a source of information. This information is under strict embargo and by taking it into possession, media representatives are committing to the terms of the embargo not only on their own behalf, but also on behalf of the organization they represent.
----------------------------
1. ...
2023-06-26
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The rate at which women eliminate alcohol from their bloodstream is largely predicted by their lean body mass, although age plays a role, too, scientists found in a new study. Women with obesity – and those who are older – clear alcohol from their systems 52% faster than women of healthy weights and those who are younger, the study found.
Lean body mass is defined in the study – published in the journal Alcohol Clinical and Experimental Research – as one’s ...
2023-06-26
Many of the world’s largest aquatic food producers are highly vulnerable to human-induced environmental change, with some of the highest-risk countries in Asia, Latin America and Africa demonstrating the lowest capacity for adaptation, a landmark study has shown.
The study shows that more than 90% of global “blue” food production, in both capture fisheries and aquaculture, faces substantial risks from environmental change, with several leading countries in Asia and the United States set to face the greatest threats to production.
The authors behind the new paper produced the first-ever global analysis ...
2023-06-26
Some truffle producers in the eastern U.S. intending to grow European black truffles –scientific name, Tuber melanosporum — are also accidentally cultivating winter truffles — Tuber brumale — a related species that looks nearly identical but sells at a lower price, according to a new study from truffle researchers at the University of Florida and Michigan State University.
In the U.S. and around the globe, European black truffles are produced commercially in truffle orchards, which contain trees ...
2023-06-26
GeneDx (Nasdaq: WGS), a leader in delivering improved health outcomes through genomic and clinical insights, today published a paper in Nature Methods, titled “Multiscale analysis of pangenomes enables improved representation of genomic diversity for repetitive and clinically relevant genes,” in which researchers developed a new computational tool, the PanGenome Research-Tool Kit (PGR-TK), for scalable analysis of clinically relevant genes that were previously too complex to analyze.
“While ...
2023-06-26
Dennis Charney, MD, the Anne and Joel Ehrenkranz Dean of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and President for Academic Affairs of the Mount Sinai Health System, has received the prestigious Donald Klein Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Society for Clinical Psychopharmacology (ASCP). The award was presented to Dr. Charney during the ASCP’s annual meeting on Wednesday, May 31.
The award is presented annually to an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to the field of clinical psychopharmacology. It is named in honor of Dr. Klein, who brought a rational and pragmatic approach ...
2023-06-26
Faced with a drought of data concerning Appalachian drinking water quality and resulting health outcomes, researchers dug deeply to find what trickles they could.
Alasdair Cohen, assistant professor of environmental epidemiology in public health, has studied drinking water and health challenges in rural areas internationally and in California. Since arriving at Virginia Tech in 2019, he has been studying similar issues in rural Appalachia.
“My first few years at Virginia Tech, I reached out to academics, nonprofits, and state and local government agencies to try and better understand what was known about water quality in the region,” ...
2023-06-26
Guilt. It’s a horrible feeling that causes us to question our worth as human beings. But while it’s something that induces sleepless nights and stress-related physical symptoms in individuals, for society at large, the tendency toward guilt might have some benefits.
“People who are prone to feeling guilt in their everyday lives are less likely to take bribes,” said UC Santa Barbara psychology professor Hongbo Yu, who specializes in how social emotions give rise to behaviors. He is a senior author of a paper that appears in the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science.
In a study he conducted ...
2023-06-26
University of North Florida faculty member Dr. Barry Albright is part of a research team led by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) who have unlocked new evolutionary information following the discovery of a 94-million-year-old mosasaur in the gray shale badlands of the National Park Service Glen Canyon National Recreation Area in southern Utah. Mosasaurs are fully marine-adapted reptiles that swam the seas while dinosaurs ruled the land. The ground-breaking research was just published in Cretaceous Research.
The journey began nearly 11 years ago as Scott Richardson, a trained volunteer working under Dr. Albright, searched for fossilized remains of creatures ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
[Press-News.org] The ISSCR statement on new research with embryo models
