When a child studies a worm, they might first examine it closely, then gently prod it with a stick to see how it reacts. In much the same way, the scientific method is based on observing nature and testing how it responds after perturbation. But when the subject of enquiry is the human embryo, direct experimentation is not possible because of ethical boundaries. Instead, researchers have turned to stem-cell-based embryo models built in the laboratory as a way to explore early development without crossing those boundaries. Writing in Nature, Li et al.1 report the generation of a monkey embryo model that replicates key aspects of the first three weeks of primate development, opening up avenues for similar studies with human cells.
doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-025-03729-7
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Competing Interests T.W.T. is an adviser for Stately Bio and an inventor on patent applications related to naive pluripotent stem cells and human embryo models.
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