Non-viable human embryos as a source of viable cells for embryonic stem cell derivation

Abstract Human embryonic stem cells (hESC) hold great promise for use in regenerative medicine. However, the extraordinary potential of hESC as therapeutic tools is tempered by ethical, moral and political issues surrounding their derivation from human embryos. It has previously been proposed that e...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Reproductive biomedicine online 2009, Vol.18 (2), p.301-308
Main Authors: Gavrilov, Svetlana, Prosser, Robert W, Khalid, Imran, MacDonald, Joanne, Sauer, Mark V, Landry, Donald W, Papaioannou, Virginia E
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Cell Culture Techniques
Cell Differentiation
Cell Proliferation
Cell Separation
Cell Survival - physiology
Cells, Cultured
Cleavage Stage, Ovum - cytology
Cleavage Stage, Ovum - physiology
Embryo Culture Techniques
Embryo Disposition
Embryo, Mammalian - cytology
Embryo, Mammalian - physiology
Embryonic Development - physiology
Embryonic Stem Cells - cytology
ES cell derivation
hESC
human embryonic stem cells
Humans
non-viable human embryos
Obstetrics and Gynecology
Time Factors
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Summary:Abstract Human embryonic stem cells (hESC) hold great promise for use in regenerative medicine. However, the extraordinary potential of hESC as therapeutic tools is tempered by ethical, moral and political issues surrounding their derivation from human embryos. It has previously been proposed that ethical criteria applied to essential organ donation could be employed for derivation of hESC from irreversibly arrested, and thus organismically dead, human embryos produced during routine IVF procedures. Here, it is shown that arrested embryos do not resume normal development during extended culture, yet most of them contain a substantial number of living cells on embryonic day 6 (72% have >1 viable cell, 47% have >5 viable cells), suggesting that this class of non-viable embryos could be a rich source of viable cells for derivation of hESC lines.
ISSN:1472-6483
1472-6491
DOI:10.1016/S1472-6483(10)60270-2