Han Ximin

1824295095@qq.com

SCIENTISTS from BGI-Research, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and a group of partners published a study in Nature on Tuesday, announcing the world’s first discovery of a transgene-free, rapid, and controllable method to convert pluripotent stem-cells into bona fide 8-cell totipotent embryo-like cells, paving the way for advances in organ regeneration and synthetic biology.

BGI researchers, together with an international team from China, Bangladesh, and the U.K., used BGI’s advanced single-cell sequencing technologies to help convert pluripotent stem cells, also known as an “adult” version of early embryonic cells, into a more “juvenile” version of cells that capture human zygotic genome activation and retain all lineage with developmental potential, an announcement of the company said Tuesday.

These cells could be used in regenerative medicine in the future to regenerate human organs that have become diseased and reduce the world’s reliance on organ donation. They can also be used to generate artificial blastocysts or blastoids. In addition, they will be useful for studying human embryonic development, helping to treat early developmental-related diseases and also prevent pregnancy loss.

While the technology to convert pluripotent stem cells into inner cell mass-like cells inside the blastocyst has existed for some time, this study is the first time researchers established methods to convert pluripotent stem cells to a bona fide earlier stage in the cycle of human development that matches the 8-cell embryo, which will help to expand understanding of early human embryonic development. Crucially, the researchers were able to then demonstrate that the converted cells could create placental cells in vivo — the first time this has been done.

Cells at this early stage of development can be described as “totipotent,” meaning they have the potential to create all type of early embryonic cells, which in turn create the tissues and organs necessary for development. The research builds on previous work with pluripotent stem cells at the blastocyst stage, a point at which cells have the potential to create a more limited range of differentiated cells and tissues.

The advances being made by the researchers could eventually make individualized organ regeneration a reality. Typically, the only avenue available for those in need of organ transplantation is finding a matching donor. Transplants can fail if the donor’s serotype is too different from the recipient. A separate procedure designed to adapt animal organs for transplantation to humans through gene editing is also in its infancy.

Their achievement also provides a new in vitro research system for basic research on early embryonic development, helps us understand the relationship between early embryonic development and disease occurrence, and serves as a resource for the study and treatment of birth defects and various developmental diseases.

The study obtained ethical clearance before it was conducted.